Thankful

Elijah doing his snow dance

Nathaniel trying to catch the flakes

I can honestly say that this was my favorite Thanksgiving. There was so much to be thankful for and experiencing it through the boys' eyes only made it that much sweeter. They basked in the love and attention of family, enjoyed playing board games, reading books and playing outside. They savored every bite of the "big food" and the Macy's parade. They were even able to see snow flurries. Every bit of the long weekend was enjoyed by all. 

As we reflected on all the things we have to be thankful for and how much the boys have changed our lives for the better we were also reminded that their adoption is not yet complete. We call them Nathaniel and Elijah Lusk but legally they are not. They are still Aron Okello and Dan Ogai, citizens of Uganda. The Ugandan Government gave us legal guardianship of these precious boys so that we could take them home. But it is only in our home nation that we can legally adopt them. This is commonly called "Re-adoption," and our Re-adoption journey is just beginning. 

This is a journey similar to what we experienced in Uganda in that we must continue to meet different legal requirements, hire a lawyer to represent our case, and jump through hoops in order to get the necessary documents for the boys (certificates of citizenship, passports, etc.) It is also like our journey in Uganda in that there are probably things we must do but still don't know about. The difference is we get to do these things from the comfort of our own home. But make no mistake, we have to do this and do this soon. We know these boys are ours and we know God has graciously given them to us. But the U.S. Government still views them as resident aliens, and we want that label to go away.

I (Morgan) often struggle to come up with creative gift ideas for people. I would love it if I could just go buy stuff on a list. But that takes a lot of the fun out of gift giving. If you're like me (or if you aren't) and you're looking for a creative gift idea this Christmas, how about helping to give someone (or two little someones) the gift of U.S. Citizenship? Nathaniel already thinks he is a US citizen...he has told people he is not from Uganda any more, he is American. :-) He has been here 4 months and he already has more American pride than most of us who have lived here for years. Won't it be great when that pride is based on the reality of being a true U.S. Citizen? Would you be able to help make that a reality for he and his brother? 

While these children no longer lack a family, love or basic needs they do still need to be adopted, whether they realize it or not. If you would like to help out with this, you can make your tax deductible donation at adopttogether.org/missionadoptable

Finding the new normal

Yesterday marked three months home with the boys. These last three months have been a whirlwind as we have tried to figure out what a family of 5 looks like. Goodbye are the days of sleeping in or going on a date on a whim. Hello are the days of reading Dr. Seuss over and over and over again, watching PBS kids, and listening to the same 3 songs 50 times a day. Our house is now filled with legos, toy cars, trains and nerf guns. But it is also a time of love, hugs, kisses, giggles, play and sometimes not enough sleep.

Our 17 year old seems to have finally come to grips with the fact that the boys are staying and, therefore, she will not get as much attention as before. It also means, for her, that there are more responsibilities around the house. However, in the last 3 months she has also fallen in love with the boys and deems it all worth it to have them around...even if they like to give her a hard time. :-)

Nathaniel started at the local public school a week and a half ago. It was God's perfect timing for him to start. He was ready! On the first day, he found his class and ran over to sit with them without saying goodbye or stopping for a hug and kiss. On the second day, he asked me not to walk him in to school but to drop him off at the curb like the other kids. On the third day, he saw his teacher when he got out of the car and ran to give her a big hug and beamed as he walked into the school. He is such a confident kid. Just by looking at him, you would never know that this is a new language and culture. When I drop him off in the mornings, he confidently gets out of the car and gives whatever teachers are on car duty a big smile or high five and bee bops into school almost skipping as he does so. He loves his teacher, his class, his new friends and especially computer time. :-) Now that he's settled into school, he's begging to ride the bus home in the afternoons. Admittedly, I will probably cave in soon and let him ride it. The first transition went so well that I see no reason not to let him ride the bus. Academically, he is a bit behind but he is so smart that no one is worried he won't catch up.

Elijah is starting to become more confident when we are away from the house and is starting to let his fun little personality show at church and preschool. His English is improving by leaps and bounds. We now have full conversations. He especially likes to talk on the phone and tell you all about his day. His meltdowns are becoming fewer and fewer and he is less stubborn about getting his way. He loves to dance and sing to music. The other day he was singing in the car "Jesus loves me this I know. For the Bible say obey Mommy." :-) I liked his new lyrics.




We were able to take a short trip over fall break to Florida to stay with my family. The boys had a blast in Me'ma and Papa's pool, at the beach and on the boat. They also just ate up all the love and attention they got. Since we have come home, the boys daily talk about wanting to go back to Florida. Nathaniel doesn't like having his new family live so far away so he has picked out houses in our neighborhood for his grandparents and uncles. :-)

In the past week or so, I have finally felt like I could catch my breath and have figured out our new normal. It helps that the boys no longer wake up in the night and that their English has improved so much that we understand each other...most of the time. We have our routine and they know what to expect most days. Having Nathaniel in school has helped free up some of my time but it has also helped him not be so "needy" when he is home. He is an extrovert and was always looking to me to meet that need. Now his need is met at school and when we are home we can just talk, read and play as a family without him "needing" my constant attention. I'm sure our "normal" will ebb and flow with time but at least I don't feel so overwhelmed with my responsibilities. Life in this family is becoming more and more fun. I cannot wait for the Christmas season and hope to show them their first snow.

Ahhh...to be home

Wow, does it feel good to be home. We have been home for a month now and every day I am thankful for it. I am thankful for the little amenities we have here...things like our own room, washing machines, my own car, and long hot showers. I missed my friends and family while I was gone so it's good to see them again.

So far the boys are adjusting really, really well. They are actually doing much better here than they were in Uganda. A lot of the behavior problems have disappeared and been replaced by fun, happy boys. Don't get me wrong they are still 3 and 6 and sinful but they are much less angry and much more obedient.

After a month we have finally settled into our routine. I think this has helped them tremendously to know each day what to expect. Every morning Nathaniel comes into our room and runs through a play by play of our day ahead. Sometimes he runs through the week...he especialy did this the week leading up to Labor Day because he was so excited about grandparents, uncles and cousins coming to see him. He is a very social person...an extrovert and the only one in the family :-)

Their English comprehension and vocabulary has exploded in the last couple of weeks. Nathaniel is even correcting his own sentences. While I am very happy for them I am a little sad that the cute phrases they have been saying such as "I love you three" are slowly disappearing. I have been trying to document all the cute things they say on facebook so I can later write them down somewhere but I haven't captured them all.

Right now my favorite quotes are:
from Elijah who loves Green Eggs and Ham "I do not Sam I am...eggs!" He will shout this at random times throughout the day. This weekend while we were watching a FSU game when he wasn't saying "Seminole Shirt!" he would shout "I do not Sam I am eggs!" I mean, the rest of us were shouting at the tv why shouldn't he? ;-)

from Nathaniel who sometimes is so surprised by something he can't help but exclaim what first comes to mind. Last week we were driving and he saw a convertible and he said "Mommy! Car no have helmet! Rain go in!" It was so very cute and I got to explain that they can put the roof back on when it rains. We also introduced him to Mario Cart on the Wii. The first time he played any time another car would hit him he exclaimed "Whoa, accident!" Then when his car was run over he said, "Mommy, car beat me!"

Besides saying cute things they are developing gross and fine motor skills quickly. Nathaniel figured out how to ride a bike without training wheels in under two weeks. Elijah took about 2 weeks to figure out how to pedal but now he rides around and around on his little bike exclaiming, "Mommy, me pedal!" Nathaniel is starting to read words more and more and uses his imagination when playing. He has made traffic lights and stop signs on our driveway with chalk for when he and Elijah are riding bikes. They love doing chores (I'm sure that phase will pass quickly) and helping me cook/bake.

I think the hardest part has been bed/nap time. They both hate going to bed. All day long Elijah says, "No bed!" However, they both are improving. Elijah no longer screams, kicks and takes off all his clothes when we put him down for a nap. The last few days he has slightly objected but we have had him calmly asleep within 5 minutes. Last night we gave him hugs, kisses, tucked the covers around him and he said "Bye, see you in the morning!" I hope it continues down this path. Nathaniel doesn't pitch fits like his brother but he gets whiny and drags his feet when we make him go to bed. I actually think I prefer the fits to the whine.

So, as you can see everything is going well. Much better than I had expected. Not that I'm a pessimist but I have read enough books and had enough friends adopt to know that it doesn't always go this smoothly. Now, I can get back to working on the things I had started before we left, like unpacking boxes and organizing this house. We also didn't raise all the money we needed plus had extra expenses not budgeted for so I'm going back to fundraising. My goal is to get rid of all our credit card debt (mostly flight expenses) by next summer. We also need to pay post placement fees, court fees, fees to the US govt, and possibly lawyer fees to get these boys adopted here and made US citizens. I'm still trying to figure out this part of the process. Thankfully the boys go to preschool two mornings a week so that gives me a little time to try to get it all done. Although, my to do list is a mile long and 6 hours a week isn't enough time to get it all done. Oh well, it'll all get done sometime and if it doesn't then I guess it didn't really need to be done in the first place.

To my praying friends, you can keep praying that the boys will continue to progress the way they have been and continue to adjust well and attach to us.

Pray for their little bodies to heal. They both have had coughs since the day we got them and antibiotics have made them improve but haven't gotten rid of the cough all together. :-(

Pray for the adoption process here. It's a bit confusing and is looking to be more expensive than we originally thought.

Also, pray for the last bit of our fundraising and/or for me to be able to find a way to bring in more income from home without taking away from bonding time with the boys. 

Thanks for all the prayers and for loving our boys.

The Home Stretch

Here is a very quick update for you all. As many of you may have heard, we have a homecoming date on the horizon, provided that all goes well. I will be flying home Sunday so that I can get back to work. If all goes well at the Embassy and they get their visas, Jennifer and the boys will join me in the US of A on August 12th. We have really enjoyed our time in Uganda, but we are looking forward to being back in our home town.

Jennifer and the boys have an appointment at the Embassy next Wednesday, August 7th. Please pray that everything will go well and that they will be approved for visas and a trip home. Thank you all for praying for us and helping us with our adoption.

Observations from Morgan

We have been in Uganda for 16 days now and we have plenty to reflect on. I (Morgan) want to try and capture some of the things we have observed both in our boys and about this beautiful country.

One of the first things I noticed about Elijah is that he kept saying to me in Lugandan, "Ya coco va mboko" with a huge smile on his face. I could always tell when he was really happy because he would say it over and over again to me. I thought it must mean something sweet like "I love you" or "Thanks for adopting me." Come to find out it actually means "I'm going to beat you with a stick!" So yeah, Elijah is quite the little jokester.

On day 1, I was shocked beyond belief when our large child, Nathaniel, cleaned up after himself without being asked to. After many days with him we now realize that he greatly prefers cleanliness and order and he is not a happy camper without those things. He will never be the kid who is always in trouble for having a messy room.

When Elijah gets angry because he was told "no" or because he doesn't get his way, he will sometimes strip off all his clothes and lie down naked on the floor. One time he even sat naked in a plastic wash basin for like a half an hour. I wonder what goes through his little head. "I'll show them. I will take off all my clothes. That will really sting and then they won't tell me no anymore." Son, all your doing is creating fodder for blackmail later in life. Can you imagine when he brings a date home?

Nathaniel is pretty independent. But I see a lot of a battle within him between the felt responsibility to be a caretaker for his little brother and to just relax and be a kid. I see more and more of the latter, for which I am very thankful. I want him to rest in the fact that he now has a mom and dad to care for both he and his brother.

Speaking of rest, we had one of the most peaceful times of the entire trip Saturday night when we went to eat on the shores of Lake Victoria. When I say on the shores, I literally mean sitting at a table, on the beach, 10 feet from the gentle waters. Around us were palm trees and all kinds of beautiful plants. There was candlelight, peace, quiet, a cool breeze and good food. I felt like I could live there on the shores and be completely content.

The next day I preached at a church in a small village about 2 hours from our guest house. I greatly enjoyed the privilege of teaching Sunday school and preaching the gospel with these loving people. God is certainly at work among the villages and people of Uganda.

There are so many more observations I could make about this experience. It really is one of the hardest but also one of the most rewarding things I've ever done.

Blessed

Words cannot express how truly blessed we feel right now. We can see example after example of how God has been preparing us for this and and for these specific boys for years. This place is very similar to Jamaica, where we have done several mission trips.

So on Tuesday we went to court. It was an interesting experience full of God's blessing. We got up at 5am and left the guest house at 6. We fit 16 people in an suv designed to fit 5 then drove an hour into a smog filled city. We tried to get started on our medicals but it didn't work out so we got to go out for breakfast. Our boys can eat! By 12 it was time to go to the courts. We went into a large waiting room with no idea how long we would be there. It ended up being 8 hours! And yet, our boys were wonderful. There were no tears, no whining and a general sense of blessed contentment, despite having no meals and very little to do. There were impromptu naps and cookies shared, so it wasn't all bad. When we were called back to the judge's office we expected to be grilled for a long time. I prayed God would give me the words to say and that the judge would find favor with us. God said "I'll do one better!" For the first time ever the judge didn't question the adopting family. He said he used us as an example to show that he could hear a case in 20 minutes. We had gone earlier that day and donated to the the tribal kingdom to which the judge belongs. He thanked us for our generosity and said he would make his official ruling next week and sent us on our way. I could not have imagined it going that well.

Now we wait for the ruling ruling and then we apply for the boys' Ugandan passports, then their visas, then an exit interview and we go! The only problem is that it can take weeks just to get the passports and getting appointments at the US embassy takes awhile. Please pray that we can get our passports in a timely manner and the US embassy side of things also moves quickly.

Thus far things with the boys are going extremely well. We are quickly learning their personalities and gifts and a little bit of their hearts. Elijah is a happy child who loves to walk around singing and dancing. He started singing Jesus loves me last night and it just melted our hearts. He is big on hugs and cuddling. He has the cutest accent, and he seems to find lots of reasons to squeal with delight.

Nathaniel is a typical first born who likes rules and order. He immediately cleans up after himself. He loves to play with us especially if it involves a ball. He also likes card games. His drawing skills are great for his age. He is a good caregiver who looks out for his little brother. He loves playing on the kindle so we quickly figured out that we can use it as both reward and punishment when appropriate. He likes listening to stories when I read. Perhaps he will be our reader. :-)

As of right now we still have no idea when we will be home. But we are prepared to spend most if not all of July here. Though we can't wait to come home and start our new family in in Chattanooga, we see the benefits of being here in Uganda with the boys for a while. It is their turf and where they feel comfortable. Because of that and especially because of God's incomparable wisdom and faithfulness, our family is being strongly bonded right before our eyes.

Day 1 in Uganda

We have made it through our first day with the boys. On one hand it feels like we have been with them forever and on the other hand there is still so much we don't know yet so it feels brand new. So here are a few of the things we learned about our boys today...
They both are right handed
They both are excellent eaters...and both don't like the skins on their apples
Nathaniel is all muscle and a born athlete. I think he'll be playing fall soccer
Nathaniel's English is very good. He understands almost everything we say. He knows his colors, letters, numbers & shapes in English
Nathaniel is already a tech junkie...We are having to put time limits on his time on the kindle :-)
I greatly underestimated how tiny Elijah is. I brought 3 T clothes for him & they are falling off. Our friends brought their 3 year old and he towers over Elijah.
Elijah likes to sit down and color and has great coordination for his age (artist maybe?)
Elijah's new favorite word is Mommy... which is followed by lots of other words in Luganda
Elijah has a wonderful giggle
Nathaniel is a wonderful big brother who has compassion on all the other young children

Tomorrow is our court appearance and our medical appt. Please pray for both things as well as our passports and visas which are the next big things we need to do in order to bring the boys home.

My plans are not your plans...

So our trip to London was wonderful. I felt like I was back home and had a great time catching up with friends and showing Morgan my favorite sights. Thursday we were sitting at Starbucks at Embankment catching up with a friend when Morgan checked his e-mail. We had an urgent message waiting for us. Our court appearance has been moved up a day! We immediately went into scramble mode and starting trying to change flights.

Within hours we were able to get new flights that leave Sunday instead of Tuesday. They were the only reasonably priced flights we could find. We are having a hard time not feeling like this is another trip like our trip to Colorado....filled with disappointment. We have lost close to $1,000 by changing our flights. We were supposed to go to Warner Bros Studios on Monday to see the sets from the Harry Potter films. I think I'm more disappointed about not getting to go to Harry Potter than I am about all that money going down the drain. We also had plans to see friends we hadn't seen in 6+ years. I quickly lost the ability to finish our people/places to see list and it makes me sad. I know that God is in control and he has a big plan in all of this but at the moment I'm just sad. At least we were still able to go to Sam's wedding in Plymouth which was the whole reason we came to England to begin with.

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a wedding. The locals had been concerned about it being rainy and chilly but as it turned out, it was a rare warm and sunny day in Plymouth. The wedding ceremony was at an old Anglican Church, and the reception was at an Orangery across the bay in Cornwall. It was a delightful place for a party, with lush gardens and scenic walks overlooking the bay and even a bit of the Atlantic Ocean. What a wonderful way for us to celebrate Sam and Maya's wedding and to spend our last night in the UK.

Now we are officially off for Uganda. At present we are sitting in Heathrow airport waiting for the first leg of our journey (London to Cairo) to begin. It strikes me that we are surrounded by people from all over the world. It is a cultural melting pot here at the airport. In some ways it is preparing me for the fact that our family is about to become a small cultural melting pot of its own. And this is a great thing!

In the book of Revelation chapter 7, John sees a vision of the multitude standing before God in Heaven at the end of all things...or better yet, the beginning of all things being made new. He says they are from  every tribe, tongue and nation - the most glorious cultural melting pot of all. God delights in the fact that his family comes in all shapes, colors and languages. I hope that in a very small way we are reflecting this glorious picture of the New Heavens and New Earth by the new family God is creating for us out of Uganda. We are less than 24 hours away from this dream becoming a reality. And that makes any frustrations over change of plans all worth it.

Please pray for safe travels and for us to be able to sleep on the flights. Also please pray for our new court date and that the judge would rule in our favor quickly. The judge has to take a week off due to a death in his family so pray for him and his family. Thanks. Our next post will be when we have the boys with us! We can't wait to update you on how our first meeting and day together go.

Good news and prayer requests

Ok, so I wrote a post from Jamaica...it was humorous, it was long, it was a riveting read...but the internet gremlin stole it. ;-) The internet went down and I didn't know it so when I thought I was saving and posting it the blog was just disappearing from the world never to be heard from again...

Anyway, we had a great team with us in Jamaica. They worked hard, got along well and had a great time together. We weeded a potato field and most of a pepper field. We mixed concrete and poured a 20'x25' strip of a driveway. Some repaired a barbwire fence and most moved 400 bags of cement, which weighed a total of 37,800 pounds. Sign language skills were improved. Fun was had by all. :-)

Now we are back in Chattanooga and are completing a mad dash to get everything ready before we leave on Monday, June 24th. We have copies of all documents, the boys' suitcase is mostly packed, their room is as ready as it can be, we are vaccinated and have our antimalarial meds...yet there is still more to do. I have a long list of things needed to be complete by Monday. Alas, I know the Lord will give me the strength to get it all done.

So our good news...the last couple who went to Uganda only had to stay 2 1/2 weeks!!!! There is no guarantee that our process will be as quick but it gives us hope that we won't be there for 4-6 weeks just waiting on signatures and paperwork. We would be happy to stay 3 weeks but 4-6 weeks just seems so long and we are anxious to be able to return home and start building a routine and settling in as a family. Plus we aren't excited about leaving our girls (especially the 16 y/o) behind for that long. She's having a hard time with the thought of us being gone that long.

How can you pray for us as we see the finish line ahead?
• pray for our safety
• pray for sleep! With the long flights and time changes we will be a bit delirious.
  Pray that we are able to sleep on flights and that the boys will sleep when they
  are supposed to.
• pray for our health, I'm nervous about my stomach handling life/food there
• pray for all the officials who will be dealing with our adoption
• pray the adoption goes well and quickly and return flights will be reasonably priced
• pray for the boys' hearts as they have a huge adjustment ahead of them, pray
  that God will help them quickly attach to us as their new mommy and daddy
• pray for "LK" the 16 y/o who will have to live without us for a month or more
• pray that the last little bit of money will come in

Morgan would like you all to know that we feel a bit like Joshua and Caleb before they spied on the Promised Land. They didn't really know what to expect, but they went anyway because that is what God told them to do. We are faithfully confident that this is what God has called us to do, and that He is preparing the way for us. But we're also afraid!

Thank you so much for your support and prayers. We feel so loved and blessed.

He's Continuously Faithful

I haven't written in awhile for a couple of reasons...
1. There wasn't much to report on. It seems that adoption is a process of hurry, hurry, hurry, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork, then wait. We are sitting in the waiting period. All of our paperwork is in, our court date is set and we are just waiting to leave. Thankfully the wait is almost over. We leave for Jamaica this weekend to take a few of our youth to work with the deaf there. When we return, we have 9 days before we board a flight for England and then on to Uganda! I cannot express my excitement over getting to meet my boys and spend a whole month with them before bringing them home!

2. I have to admit that I was in a period of doubting and sadness. Who wants to listen to me complain when I know I have so much? I was struggling with the fact that I couldn't decorate the boys' room because there was no furniture and the floors haven't been fixed since the water damage. I was overwhelmed by the fact that we have less than 2 weeks in the country and have no more fundraisers planned to get that last bit of money needed for return flights.

However, I am so thankful that God loves me even when I'm being a stick in the mud and doubting His timing and goodness. This past Sunday, our sermon was on 1 Kings 17. It is about Elijah and since our son will be named Elijah I paid extra close attention. :-) Here's a small part of what was read:

² And the word of the Lord came to him: ³ “Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴ You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” ⁵ So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. ⁶ And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.

Do you know what I realized from that passage? In all my complaining and doubting I forgot that God promises to give us only what we need for THAT day. He doesn't need to give us everything at once...he can but he doesn't have to. He sometimes chooses to give us only that day's portion, usually for our own good. That is what he has been doing in my life over the last month or so. He is giving me just enough to get me through and force me to continue to depend on him. Like Elijah, I have my food and water for today and that should be enough to get me to tomorrow.

We may not have all the money we need for return flights but we have some of it. And God has placed us in a country where we can take out interest free credit cards. We will put the remaining balance on a credit card and pay it off as we are able over the next 18 months. Each day someone gives us a little more toward the adoption and perhaps in the next two weeks God will do amazing things to provide the rest of the money but if he doesn't it will be ok too.

Since Sunday's sermon, I have been blessed with a surprise package full of clothes for the boys. (A friend's mother told her Bible study to pray for us and our need for some material items and next thing I know we have a plethora of clothes from that Bible study in Kentucky.)  I've also been told another package of clothes is on the way from some other friends in Nashville. Yesterday, we received both of the car seats we still needed from a few friends from Florida. We also have lined up getting bunk beds when we get back from Jamaica and we bought two mattresses today (pillowtop mattresses was what the discount store had so the boys shall sleep in a little bit of heaven). In less than a week, God provided all those material items I had been worried about and I feel blessed beyond measure. He also gave me two days this week with little on my plate so I could clean the house, hang stuff on the walls, and sort and organize the boys' room. I feel a little more ready for them to come.

God has proven Himself faithful time and time again so why is it so easy for me to become discouraged and doubt? God hasn't changed. My fleshly body is weak and, like the Israelites, I quickly forget all that God has done for me in the past and just focus on what I have to overcome ahead of me. I wish I could say that I have learned my lesson for good this time but sadly I know that this will not be the last time I will doubt. I am ever so thankful that God knows me better than anyone and is still willing to give me grace when I'm not perfect. I don't have to be perfect because Jesus was perfect for me and that is a huge relief.

Tomorrow we leave for Jamaica and I am bursting with excitement to see what He is going to do in the lives of our youth. At first, I thought we were a bit nuts to have this trip so close to going to Africa (we booked it years ago so it wasn't really our fault for planning them so close together) but now I think it was another example of God's goodness to us...right before we go to Africa we are being given a week to take a step out of our busy lives and spend a little time serving others at a slower pace of life. We will get to reconnect with friends and I'll get to work on my sign language skills. I love to worship with the deaf using my my ears, my voice and my body, through sign language, to praise Him. God knows that about me and has given me that opportunity. We will get to spend a lot of time with Him and reflect on all the changes that are coming and all that He has done to get us there. God is good. All the time.

Stay tuned for updates from Jamaica. :-)

A (Chiro)practical Way to Help Us Out

For the past 5 months Jennifer and I have been going in for regular visits to Vida Chiropractic on Hixson Pike in our home town of Chattanooga. I had a pretty painful lower back issue, and Jennifer has a very stiff upper back. Both of us have benefited greatly from seeing this Chiropractor.

On a routine visit the other day, he (Dr. Terry Loher) asked me how our adoption was going. I mentioned that it was going well but that we still needed to raise anywhere from $4,000 to $5,000. The next thing he said was pretty amazing: "What if I did a fundraiser for you?"

So if you live in the Chattanooga area (or even if you don't and you're willing to come visit) you should stop by Vida Chiropractic on June 1st from 10 AM to 12 Noon. Dr. Loher will adjust you and whatever you pay him will go directly toward our adoption. It is a win-win situation for all parties!

Please tell your friends about this so we can make this a great fundraiser!

Here is the address for Vida Chiropractic:

4812-D Hixson Pike
Hixson, TN 37343

It is in a plaza right next to the Taiwanese Bakery, just a little ways from the Krystal on Hixson Pike (not far from 153).

Eyes off the Water Damage and onto the Savior

Where are our eyes fixed?

Our Pastor, Robert Johnson, asked this question during his latest sermon at Hixson Presbyterian Church. You can listen to it here. I highly recommend it. The sermon was on Jesus' statement in John 11 that He is the "Resurrection and the Life." The quote came during the closing where our Pastor was making some applications. In particular, he referenced 2 Corinthians 1:8-10, which says:
For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. ⁹ Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. ¹⁰ He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again.

Where are our eyes fixed? Where is our hope? Who do we trust? Is it ourselves? Is it our money? Or are our eyes actually fixed on what (or better yet, Who) is above: on our all-knowing, all powerful God? The God who raises the dead. We have needed to go back to this question lately, and as you'll see this sermon has been very timely in our lives. 

We announced a couple of weeks ago that we had raised all of the money we needed to pay for the adoption of our boys. That doesn't mean we raised ALL the money, just that we reached an important checkpoint on the way to raising all the money. We still need around $5,000 to pay for flights home from Uganda, living expenses while in Uganda, and also for re-adoption once we get the boys home (we'll explain re-adoption at a later date). But after all this fundraising, $5,000 doesn't seem so bad! We're almost there! We can see the finish line!

And then Wednesday happened.

The good news about Wednesday was that we were to drive to Atlanta to get our USCIS fingerprinting. This is an important step in the process as it is an extensive criminal background check that assures the Ugandan Government that we are in fact nice people. So we woke up early Wednesday morning, and in the course of getting ready to leave we noticed that the carpet in our boys' bedroom was wet. Our first reaction was that one of the cats had peed on the floor. I wish that's all it was. We kept exploring and quickly realized that if this dampness was cat pee, then it was one giant cat! Half of the carpet in the room, and the entire closet were totally soaked through. There was also water in the walls, and water dripping down through the garage ceiling. Yikes.

After a quick trip to Atlanta for fingerprinting, which went extremely well by the way, we were back at home dealing with the mess. A dry out company came and put large, noisy dehumidifiers (deshumidificadors in Spanish - that's for Josh Mullins) in our boys' room. To make a long story a little less long, we've got the room dried out without any uber significant damage.

However, the fact remains that this is going to cost us a fairly substantial amount of money at a time when we really don't need to be paying for things like this. Of all the times for this to happen, it had to be when we're trying to raise money to adopt children. Really? Why?

I'll ask it again: Where are our eyes fixed? Check out this quote from Sunday's sermon, where our Pastor fittingly applied 2 Corinthians 1:8-10:

God is at work to wean us off our self-reliance and to understand that we have a Savior who is the resurrection and the life and he is able to do all things. So God is at work teaching us to abandon trust in ourselves and to rely on the God who raises the dead…to help us to know and to feel our own weakness so that we will reach out and seek the power of Christ; the power of the One who is the Resurrection.

When Robert said this, I turned to Jennifer and whispered, "Water Damage." God is using the cost of the water damage to wean us off our self-reliance and to cause us to fix our eyes on God, who raises the dead, so that we might seek the power of Christ!

Seriously, what else would we ever want to seek? How could we ever have sought after anything other than the power of Christ? Why would we ever want to adopt by ourselves when we could trust in the power of Christ - the power that created the Universe and raises the dead - to make this adoption happen? Do we really think that we'll be fine without Him?

Last week we also had to go get Yellow Fever Vaccines and Polio Boosters for our trip to Uganda. We went under the assumption that our insurance company would reimburse us for these immunizations. We assumed that because they told us they would reimburse us! But now they won't, and the reason why is a long story that would really bore you. So that's another $400 we can't use toward airfare home from Uganda, or living expenses while in Uganda, or re-adoption.

But seriously, what is $400 to God? What is the cost of a 5 day long dry-out and the subsequent home repairs to God? For that matter, what is the cost of adopting two boys to God? God owns every cent in every bank and pocket on the planet. He can provide the money.

But it's not about the money, and it's only sort of about what we choose to do with our eyes. Ultimately, this is all about the One on whom we are called to fix our eyes - Jesus Christ, the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. If He can raise the dead, He can raise $5,000 more, and he can surely raise our discouraged eyes up from the ground so they are fixed on Himself.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Blessings Abound

Even in our disappointments we can see God's hand at work. No matter what comes our way, we can be sure that he has our best interests in mind. Last Wednesday we set out for the Nashville airport to head to a youth workers conference in Colorado. The alarm went off at 4am and we groggily began getting ready to leave. We packed and got on the road before the sun came up and felt that we had given ourselves plenty of time to get on our 9 am Central Time flight. However, we didn't properly account for rush hour traffic. Our 2 hour drive turned into a 3 hour drive and we arrived at the ticket counter 5 minutes after they stopped checking bags. The plane was still there and wouldn't depart for 25 more minutes but we couldn't get on. Not to worry! We were rebooked for an afternoon flight. (blessing number 1)

Three hours later we returned to the airport only to find that the afternoon flight had been canceled due to snow in Denver. We couldn't leave Nashville till the following morning. We both left discouraged and kicking ourselves for not leaving Chattanooga earlier. Yet God is good in our disappointments. We were able to spend the evening with dear friends from seminary and left greatly encouraged. (blessing number 2)

The next morning we got to the airport on time....actually early (we weren't taking any chances)...and our flight went as planned. (blessing number 3) Upon arriving in Denver we learned that the previous day's snow storm had been intense and the mountain roads received 7" of snow in a couple of hours. Had we made our first flight we would have driven right into that storm. Locals described the road conditions during that time as scary and newspapers showed pictures of overturned and jack-knifed trucks. (blessing number 4)

By the time we made it to the conference we had missed more than half of it. It almost seemed that it wouldn't be worth our time to show up that late. Boy were we wrong. One of the men leading the conference met with us for 3 hours and walked us through the material. The great thing about this was that not only did he discuss the material with us, but he also helped us see how we could apply it in our particular church context. (blessing number 5) It was our own personal conference and we benefited so much by it. We now have a new strategic plan and mission statement for the youth group starting next year. We both were so encouraged and energized by the material.

While talking with the leader we mentioned that we had hoped to ski while we were out there because they had a bunch of fresh powdery snow on the slopes ("Freshy" as the locals call it). He was able to help us get free lift tickets to a nearby ski resort called Arapahoe Basin. (blessing number 6) We hit the slopes Saturday morning after the conference was over and the conditions couldn't have been any more perfect. (blessing number 7) The scenery was gorgeous and the slopes were freshly groomed. We skied for a few hours with neither of us falling or getting injured in any way. Victory!

If you had left me to my own selfish desires we would have been on the slopes from open to close. However, we had to get the rental car back and we had plans with my best friend, Lynnell, later that day. So we begrudgingly turned in our skis and drove off through Loveland Pass on our way to Colorado Springs. The views were breath taking. We stopped on more than one occasion to take pictures.

One thing we noticed was that on every mountain you could see locals hiking to the top and skiing or boarding down and then hitchhiking a ride back up. We both saw the "Caution Avalanche" signs posted all along the road and commented on how it wasn't smart to ski/board on back country trails where conditions are not monitored for avalanches. Sadly, an hour later there was a large avalanche on that pass that claimed the life of 5 boarders. We probably saw them out on the mountain as we drove past. They were our age. God blessed us (number 8) by having us drive through before it happened, but he didn't spare them. I don't understand why that happened. I am saddened for the families who lost their loved ones. But I am also so very thankful for God's protection over us.

So, I know this doesn't have that much to do with adoption, but then again maybe it does. Satan doesn't like that we're adopting. In fact, he hates it. Nothing could be more of a reflection of what God has done for us than adoption, and Satan definitely hates anything to do with God. One of the challenges we have found that adopting couples tend to face is increased attacks from the evil one.

But as you have no doubt seen throughout this blog post, God even uses Satan's attacks to bring about good for His people and glory for Himself. It's realizations like these that make me want to shout along with the Apostle Paul: "Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!...For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

The end is in sight

After months of running around like a chicken with my head cut off, life is slowing down. Our home study is complete. Our I600A is turned in to USCIS (it gives us approval to go get our boys). We are paper ready in Uganda and have our court orders! (That means we can post pics of the boys now!) We have a profile on adopttogether.org (www.adopttogether.org/missionadoptable) to allow people to donate. We have had a few successful fundraisers. Now it's a matter of completing a couple more fundraisers and waiting on USCIS to give us an appointment to be fingerprinted and then approving us.

Thanks to some generous donations we are only $2,000 away from being able to pay all of the lawyer/orphanage fees! After that it's just money for flights and we are done! Thanks to a friend, we are in contact with a lady who is helping us get a deal on flights. God is AMAZING! Back in January, raising that much money seemed daunting. Now I wonder how I could have ever been worried about this. God's got this!

Last Thursday, we were able to "meet" our boys via Face Time (like Skype). I have to admit that when I first laid eyes on them I started to cry. They are more precious and beautiful than the picture we have. Nathaniel's two front teeth are starting to grow in. As they are only halfway in and not perfectly straight he reminded me of Mater from Cars. :-) It won't be long before he can watch the movie with us and laugh when I call him Mater. (At least until his teeth come all the way in.) Elijah has grown a lot in the last 3 months. He is taller and his facial features have filled out more. His little smile stole my heart.

We did learn that their English skills are still in need of improvement and we may have a little language barrier to overcome but we aren't worried. The boys were being shy but we found out that they already take after their daddy. Their favorite meal is meat, rice and Coke. :-)

I wish that we could go over there tomorrow and scoop them up in big hugs and kisses but alas we must wait. Until we get to see them again I am encouraged that God answers prayers and that I must press on towards the goal (in this case bringing them home). We only have to wait 2 1/2 more months before we can meet them face to face and for that I am grateful. There are other families that have to wait years.

Enjoy the above picture but know that they are waaaay cuter in person. :-)

Adoption Ain't Easy

So I thought that going the adoption route would be much easier than being pregnant. I wouldn't have to deal with morning sickness, pregnancy brain, or being extra emotional. My body would be just fine and I could sit back and wait for all the paperwork to be done and the green light to bring my boys home. Boy, was I wrong.

I have found that I actually have my own sort of morning sickness... I don't deal with extreme amounts of stress well. I can handle a classroom full of 20 five year olds but give me a long list of items to do and a short timeline to do them in and I'm done for. All this stress is actually upsetting my stomach and making it so that I often feel sick after meals which makes me not want to eat. The one silver lining to this is that I've lost 5 lbs, so it's not all bad. :-)

I have so many things to do that I have "paper pregnant" brain. I can't remember what the date is, what's on my schedule and when things are due. Talking to me at the end of the day might not get you anywhere because I have lost my ability to think by 5pm...some days even earlier.

I can cry at the drop of a hat provided you say the right thing or catch me at the right time. Tell me that I've done my home study or USCIS paper work wrong and I'm done for. Show me a picture or video of orphaned children and I'm a gonner. And never, under any circumstance allow me to listen to "Kings and Queens" by Audio Adrenaline when I'm alone.

So maybe I didn't escape some of the down sides of being pregnant, but I do think that my unique situation has so many blessings that I'm not sure I would get if I was pregnant. For one, to watch others sacrificially give so that we can bring these boys home blows me away. It is costing others something and yet they are cheerfully blessing us and our boys by making sacrifices to expand God's kingdom.

One family gave us their tax return! I know how many people look forward to that tax return so they can buy something they couldn't afford otherwise or to help pay for a vacation. Tax returns seem to be "fun" money we allow ourselves to splurge with. And yet this family chose to "splurge" on our boys. (It makes me cry with gratitude when I think of it...I told you I'm extra emotional)

I get to watch the church/kingdom expand by 7 children who currently live on the other side of the world. If I had my own biological child I would take it for granted that the child would know God and learn to follow Him. These 7 little Ugandan children might not have the priviledge of following the King if they didn't get adopted into Christian homes and instead aged out of the system and were turned out onto the streets of Kampala.

I get to see God work in amazing ways. God works in amazing ways every day but we don't stop to take notice. The fact that a woman's body can make and hold a precious little child inside is a miracle. But it is a miracle that we see happening all the time. Therefore, we don't always stop to think about how amazing it is. I know that if I were pregnant I would have days, weeks, if not months where I wouldn't even think about how God was working and knitting my baby together. But through adoption I see how amazing it is that God knits the whole story together in a way that only He can so that He alone can get the glory. It opens my eyes and draws me closer to Him.

Lastly, I'm learning again and again what it means to depend on and follow God daily. Only He can make this all work and get it all done in time for us to go to Uganda in July. Only He can make sure the judge grants us the children. Only He can bring us through this stress. I cannot make it through my day without prayer and dependance on Him. I think God knew that I "needed" to adopt so that I could have a much fuller picture of His adoption of us and a stronger dependance on Him.

So while adoption ain't easy I think that this is exactly what God has called us (Morgan and I) to do and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Our expectations/ God's plans

So there's this passage in the Bible (Romans 11) where Paul is talking about a really difficult and mysterious truth (another blog for another time). He spends all this time carefully explaining the way God is working out His plan of salvation, and then when he gets to verse 33 it's like he just can't hold it in anymore and he starts singing! Just picture it.

Here's what he sings: "Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!"

So, I feel like Paul today. Once again God has blown me out of the water with the depth of His riches and wisdom and knowledge, and the unsearchable, inscrutable nature of His plans. I said in the beginning of this journey that I have always had a passion for adopting and my dream was that we wouldn't be the only ones from Chattanooga adopting. Well, as great as that dream was, God has once again taught me that I dream too small when it comes to the way He goes about building His kingdom.

Here's how the plan was supposed to work out in my mind:
1) Go get the boys
2) Come back and parade their cuteness before all our friends
3) Watch God work in our friends' hearts to cause them to want to adopt as well.

But here the thing: God has apparently decided that my little plan wasn't awesome enough.
He has already been at work in hearts all over our city to the point that Morgan and I aren't going to be adopting alone. It's like God has been saying, "Yes, good, that's a fine dream and all. But let me show you a more excellent way." Here follows a short account of that most excellent way.

Last week I got in contact with a family who heard through the grapevine what we were doing and really wanted to know more. After a few conversations with them, they contacted the orphanage in Uganda to see about available kids. They ended up choosing an adorable brother and sister and may get to go over to Uganda to get them before we can go get our boys!

If you're keeping count, that's 4 little Ugandans coming to Chattanooga. 

Then, on Saturday, I was thrilled to hear more excellent news. Some close friends of ours chose a brother and sister from the same orphanage. That makes 6 little Ugandans coming to Chattanooga.  But you haven't even heard the coolest part yet.

As we talked and continued to put the pieces together, we began to realize that these 2 couples from the same city each picked out children who are all half siblings! Only God could orchestrate all 4 of the siblings going to the same city on the other side of the world. It's like He's in complete control of this whole thing or something :)

But the excellent news doesn't stop there. On Saturday afternoon I talked to another family in Chattanooga who heard what we are doing and who would like to adopt as well. They are still praying about who it is God has for them but they are seriously considering taking a cousin of the 4 siblings!

What started out as 2 little boys moving to Chattanooga has turned into 7 (possibly 8) Ugandan children moving here this summer! God does indeed set the lonely in families and looks out for the orphan. He is making sure that these children are taken care of, loved, and brought into His Covenant community; a community which will include many of their friends and family. As they grow up in Chattanooga, they will have an incredibly unique bond with each other and an important link to their heritage.

God has also thrown my expectations for fundraising out the window. We now have raised over $10,000 this month! We are more than halfway to our goal and we still have a few months to go. Next week we will send the orphanage the second third of the money we owe them. We will also be able to pay off our home study. At the start of this process the money we needed to raise was quite daunting. Now I can see a light at the end of the tunnel and that God will provide the funds as/when we need them.

Our next steps are to receive our home study report, send the rest of our paperwork to Uganda, go to USCIS for fingerprinting, buy flights, raise the rest of the funds, and GO!

My faith and dependance on God is truly growing through this process. As others continue to pour out blessings upon us, I'm convicted that I am not generous enough. My perspective on needs verses wants is changing. It's hard in this materialistic culture to not join in with the crowd and get all the same things they have. But maybe God is calling me to make sacrifices and give up some comforts so that others may know Him through my actions/generosity.

For now, I am adopting these boys and introducing them to the unsearchable, inscrutable, incredible, mysterious Kingdom of God. But what will I be doing to help expand His Kingdom when the boys are home and we have settled into our "normal" life? Yes, I'll be raising them to know and fear the Lord, but perhaps God is asking me to do more. Maybe there's another example of the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God waiting just around the corner.

And the winner is...

Margaret Martin! She is a sweet lady in our church who I got to know better this fall at our church's women's retreat. She has beaten the odds against cancer and has shown others that with God all things are possible. Thanks to all who donated. We had 46 donors and raised almost $2,000.

To those of you who are interested in how we picked... I created an excel sheet with everyone's name next to a number and Morgan went to random.org and had it generate a number for us....and so it picked Margaret.

Thanks again for helping us get closer to bringing our boys home. We love y'all.

When it rains it pours...and that's not a bad thing

You've all heard the saying "when it rains it pours." I agree that it seems to often be the case but that's not always a bad thing. Like plants, sometimes we need all the rain to grow. It's hardships that help us grow even if they aren't our favorite part of life. Plus if we never had rainy days we wouldn't appreciate the sun as much. It's in the pouring rain that I depend on God even more than in the sunshine.

Since our last post, I feel like I have been drinking from a waterfall and barely keeping from drowning in the process. In the past couple of weeks, we have closed on our house, moved in, had one home study for our "foster" daughter, had another home study for the boys, had a weekend youth retreat, took a short trip to Asheville to help my mom pack her house, taught art lessons, tried to fill quote orders, worked on adoption paperwork, worked on adoption fundraisers and sorted, priced and brought close to a thousand items to two local consignment sales. Last night Morgan and I sat down together and felt like it was the first time we had seen each other in weeks. Sure, we have been living under the same roof, but we hadn't had time to just sit down and talk.

Over the last few months, I kept saying to Morgan that when we got into the house things would settle down and we would get back into our routine. Thus far that has not proven to be true. We may be sleeping at this new house but we do little else there. We still don't have internet so I have to go to the church to get online...my smart phone has decided to be not so smart and shuts down when I try to use any of my apps for more than a couple of minutes. That has made it difficult to post new blogs. Our internet will be hooked up on Monday so I will get better about keeping you updated then.

Yet among all this chaos God continues to be faithful. Perhaps He has used this "pouring rain" of busyness to show us that He alone was the one behind all the funds coming in. When we were too busy and too tired to do the work ourselves, God provided families in our church to encourage and support us. Many women came and helped me sort and price the consignment sale donations. People have donated both items to sell and money and their generosity has blown me away. We had one person, who is a friend of a friend living in another state, donate $100 to bring our boys home! Who does that? She doesn't even know us! Little things like this make me cry with gratitude.

People have been reading our blog and telling others about what we are doing. Through this 2 other families, that we didn't know beforehand, are now seriously considering adoption from the same orphanage! One family hopes to go with us in July and get their 2 kids! Another family in our church is prayerfully deciding who it is that God has for them to adopt. It is WONDERFUL to go through this journey with others. God knew what we needed before we did and he has provided in abundance!

In February, I set the goal of raising $10,000 in March. Honestly, I didn't think it was attainable but I thought, "what the heck, shoot for the moon." We are currently only $700 away from that goal! I cannot believe how much people are supporting us and loving on our children through it. The consignment sales are still continuing so hopefully they will help us get that last $700. At that point we will be a little more than halfway to the funds needed to bring the boys home. Thank you all so much for everything you have done for us. We will announce tomorrow morning who won the ipad. It's not too late to donate and get your name on the list of donors we'll choose from. :-)

Lots of Praises

Greetings to you from sunny Florida! As we sit here and notice the early signs of "spring" I am reminded that we have much to be thankful for, much to praise God for, and great reason for hope. Our Valentine's Day experience was also a reason for praise, even though our plans were quickly changed as Satan tried to ruin our day by hindering us sending money to Uganda. But alas, God will overcome!

Valentine's morning we planned to get up early, wire money to Uganda and then head to Tallahassee for a romantic walk around campus and dinner at our favorite place. However, wiring money took us 2 hours. No one knew exactly how to do it since most people don't wire money to Uganda regularly. I'm not even sure that most people know that Uganda exists. One person asked if that was near Alabama. Anyway, our contact in Uganda gave us all the information we needed to wire the money but the bank here wasn't familiar with the Ugandan bank system and how addresses are made (apparently there are no zip codes there).

After a couple hours and many phone calls by the bank teller, the money was wired to Uganda. However, by this point we wouldn't have enough time to drive to Tally and get a table. This restaurant is tiny and if you aren't there right when it opens chances are good you'll have another hour or so wait before a table will open up. So we scratched our plans and went to lunch in Atlanta instead. We both felt like sending the lawyer the money he needed to get started on our boys paperwork and setting a court date was more important this year than dinner in Tallahassee.

We are happy to report that we were able to wire almost a third of the money needed by the lawyer and the orphanage for the boys. It's about 1/5 of the total money we need but we both felt good about being able to wire some of the money and confirm to the orphanage director and the lawyer that we are serious about bringing these boys home.

Speaking of homes, we ~finally~ have a close date on our house! We are to close this Friday morning (Feb 22nd) and will move in on Saturday. We will then be able to have the last piece of our home study completed on March 4th. This is significant because it means our home study will be complete in time to apply for adoption grants that come under review in mid march. Please pray this all works out and that we are able to apply for these grants. If we miss the March reviews we will have to wait for them to come under review in June which means we might not get the funds in time to go get the boys. However, I've known God to come through in the 11th hour so I really shouldn't be worried about any of it.

March will be a month of full on campaigning for funds. We will have 2 consignment sales, hopefully will begin selling t-shirts and necklaces (stay tuned to later posts about these things) and will give one of our donors an iPad. Yes, an iPad to one of our wonderful donors as a way to say thank you for supporting us in our adventure to bring these boys home.

Our personal goal is to raise $10,000 in March which will put us over the halfway mark for all the funds needed. Would you pray about how you might be able to help us achieve our financial goal? Please remember that no donation is too small to help, and every donation is a blessing from God. We have multiple ways for you to donate and we would love for you to be partners with us in this adoption. 

Our God Cares About Details

Through the beginning stages of this adoption process we have already seen numerous evidences that we serve an awesome God who knows and provides for our needs. We know that God is concerned with big things like the expansion of His Kingdom and the salvation of people from every nation, tribe and tongue. But he is also concerned with little things, right down to the smallest detail. Let me give you an example of God caring about the small things.

Two weeks ago I found out that there was a man from Chattanooga flying to Uganda on February 9th. Not only was this man going to Uganda, he was going to visit the orphanage we are connected with! So I asked the director what the biggest needs were at the orphanage and his response was shoes for the children to wear to school and diapers.

I brought those needs to our church family and they provided in a big way. We were able to send over 36 pairs of shoes and 2 packages of diapers. Here's the response I received: "You hit the jackpot! The bag arrived in one piece, with the very, exact shoes we're hoping and praying for, on the very day the kids started the new school year! The diapers are a great fit for the little ones!" Isn't that amazing?! It shouldn't be surprising that we sent a bunch of random sizes of shoes and God made sure that they were the exact sizes needed, but it still blows me away.

We have had many people ask how they can help us on our journey to bring these boys home. Here are some practical ways you can help.

1. PRAY! Pray to our Father who cares about the details and can provide for our needs.

• Pray for our children's hearts. Pray that God will prepare their hearts for a new family, culture and country. That they will already be attaching to their new parents through the photos and stuffed animals.
• Pray for their bodies to remain strong and not get sick.
• Pray for them to be good sleepers when they move here. As many of you moms (and dads) know, sleep is so important for your child and there are many less meltdowns when they are well rested.
• Pray for our trip over there. Pray that the courts, embassy and Doctor visits will go smoothly and God will pave the way for us to bring them home in July.
• Pray for God to provide all our financial needs. 

  2. Give Items

• If you are in the Chattanooga area, we are collecting items to sell. 
• We need furniture, clothing (not winter), toys, baby items, etc. We need all items dropped off at Hixson Presbyterian Church by the end of Feb.
• The furniture and clothing can be for either adults or children. 

  3. Donate - We still need about $20,000 to cover flights, home study, lawyer fees,
     passports, and room and board for a month while we're there.

• If you would like for your contribution to be tax deductible you can bring or mail a check to our church (Hixson Presbyterian Church, 1005 Gadd Rd., Hixson, TN 37343) please write Lusk Adoption Fund on the memo line so it gets to us.
• If you just want to make a contribution without worrying about tax deductions you can click our link on the top right and donate through paypal. No amount is too small. $10 can go a long way if many people give $10.

Thank you so much for all of your support, for following our blog and walking alongside us on this journey. We could not do this alone.

Truth is...

Our youth play a game on Facebook called "truth is..." One person writes "truth is" as their status and other people "like" that status. Then the youth goes to the "walls/timelines" of all the people who "liked" the status and writes one truth about that person. Quite often these "truths" seem arbitrary to us adults who read them (something along the lines of "truth is...you're cool and we should hang out more) but they mean something to the kids in their adolescent worlds. Our youth don't know of the suffering of children in other parts of the world. Youth that face much harder "truths" than whether or not a boy or girl likes them.

I (Jennifer) am reading Kisses From Katie right now. It's a book about a young girl from Tennessee who is a missionary in Uganda. She has adopted 14 girls and has written her testimony of how God is working in Uganda. Some of the stories are heart breaking and will make any Mama want to fly over there right now and help these children. In her book, Katie has some excerpts from her journal. One journal entry tells lots of truths about life in Uganda.

Amazima (the name of Katie's non-profit organization), in Luganda, means "the truth." 
Here are Katie's "truths."

"I have a young friend named Maria. The truth is that Maria had never had a bath before I took her home and gave her one. The truth is that Maria has no one who cares for her. No one who tells her she is loved. The truth is that Maria is sent from her home in the slum outside of Jinja to beg on the streets for food, and no one in Uganda wants to touch her or help her or cares that she is sick. The truth is that Maria is just like you or me. A person. Real. A child of the King.

Meet Rose and Brenda. The truth is that they are orphans, abandoned and living in an orphanage. Now two of 143 million. The truth is that when they go to bed at night no one tucks their blankets in around them and kisses their foreheads. The truth is that when they wake up, frightened, in the dark, no one runs to comfort them. The truth is that due to someone else's carelessness, Brenda will die of AIDS.

Meet David and Bashir. The truth is that these precious little boys were soldiers, abducted, sold as property, and forced to kill. Now that the war is winding down, they are not permitted back in their villages because they are seen as traitors, so they beg on the streets.

And the truth is that theses are only the children I know, in a very small fraction of a very small country. The truth is that there are children like this all over the world, sick, starving, dying, unloved and uncared for. The truth is that the 143 million orphaned children and the 11 million who starve to death or die from preventable diseases and the 8.5 million who work as child slaves, prostitutes, or under other horrific conditions and the 2.3 million who live with HIV add up to 164.8 million needy children. And though at first glance that looks like a big number, 2.1 billion people on this earth claim to be Christians.

The truth is that if only 8 percent of the Christians would care for one more child, there would not be any statistics left. This is the truth. I have the freedom to believe it. The freedom, the opportunity to do something about it. The truth is that He loves these children just as much as He loves me and now that I know, I am responsible."
 -Katie Davis

She says it better than I can in my blog entry "A voice for the Fatherless." She has seen these children with her own eyes. She has helped care for them when no one else would. These truths are a reality for her. I have only read about them. I can only imagine what it's like. But what she has seen is a reality for our children, whoever they are. They are in a small orphanage with Christian people so they are seeing some of God's love. But it's not possible for a few adults to take care of 15-20 children with the same love and attention that we will be able to give them. I cannot wait to bring home our children so I can show them the Truth of the Father who loves them more than Morgan & I ever could.

What's in a name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." - Romeo & Juliet

In that context I agree with Juliet. Your last name shouldn't keep you from marrying someone. However, I do believe that a first name can be important.

How do parents choose names for their children? With a million possibilities, you want to choose a name that your child will like (most will go through a phase when they hate their name anyway) but also has a good meaning.

But what about when you are adopting and the kids already have a name? Do you keep the name that their parents gave them or give them a new name as they become a part of a new family?

In our case, I think we are going to follow God's example. In the Bible, God seems to have a real penchant for name changing. Usually we see these name changes in people whom God chooses to employ for a significant Kingdom purpose, and their new names usually fit that purpose. They aren't just random names. God doesn't say, "Hmmm...I think 'Paul' sounds like a winner."

When God chose Abram to be the "Father of many nations," He changed his name from Abram (exalted father) to Abraham (Father of a multitude) - Genesis 17:5. I imagine that this new meaning gave Abraham a strong sense of the calling God placed on his life.

A few verses later, God also changed the name of Abraham's wife from Sarai to Sarah. God's promise to Abraham could not have been fulfilled without Sarah, so she played an integral role in that covenant promise as well. Both Sarai and Sarah mean "princess." However, "Sarai means my princess, as if her honor were confined to one family only. Sarah signifies a princess —namely, of multitudes, or signifying that from her should come the Messiah the prince, even the prince of the kings of the earth."- Matthew Henry

God changed the name of Abraham's grandson too. Jacob (heel grasper or deceiver) spent his entire life attempting to scheme his way into getting his way, which got him into trouble with a lot of people, including his brother Esau. This continued right up until the day when he encountered God at the ford of Jabbok. There, Jacob wrestled with "a man" and would not let him go without a blessing. After a long night of pile-drivers and full nelsons, "the man" permanently injured Jacob's thigh and said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel (God prevails), for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."- Genesis 32:28. This name change not only gave Jacob assurance that he would prevail in gaining favor with Esau, but more importantly that God would keep His covenant with Israel.

In the New Testament, Jesus changes Simon's name to Peter (rock) (John 1:42). While Peter was certainly given to fits of instability and unbelief, ultimately he was a stable influence among the Apostles as they spread the Gospel throughout Israel and the Roman Empire.

Finally, there is the Apostle Paul (previously Saul). After his conversion, Saul begins going by the name Paul in order to aid his purpose in reaching the Gentiles of the Roman Empire. Paul was a far more recognizable name in Asia Minor, Greece and Rome than the Hebrew "Saul."

The point is, God gives his people new names that fit their purpose. We too will give our children names with meaning and purpose. We do not know what God has in store for them, but our prayer and our hope is that they will love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and we want their names to reflect that. Not only will their last name change because they are becoming part of our family but their first names will change as they become part of the covenant family of God through the sign and seal of baptism.

A Voice for the Fatherless...

My original desire to adopt (as a child) was only because I thought it was cool. Now, as an adult, it is more of a calling from God to care for those who cannot care for themselves. There are 147 million orphans worldwide. 10 million orphans live in institutions. There are half a million children in the US foster care system. Of those in foster care, 120,000 are available for adoption today. They just need a family to say, "Yes, I will call you son or daughter." Do those numbers shock you? They shocked me when I first learned of them. I knew that there were a lot of orphans but I had no idea that there are that many!

In many countries around the world, orphaned children "age out" of the system between 13-15 years of age. That means they are sent out from the orphanage to survive on their own. Once they age out they have very few options for their life. They aren't able to finish high school and therefore probably won't be able to find a job that provides enough income to live on. With little options, they mostly turn to crime and prostitution as means of survival. 10% of those who age out commit suicide by the time they are 18. My heart breaks for these children!

According to the US State Dept., somewhere between 600,000 and 800,000 people are trafficked across international borders EACH YEAR!!! Approximately 50% of them are children. Orphans are the easiest to kidnap and traffic because there is no one to miss them when they are gone. This kind of injustice is dishonoring to God and something we Christians should be standing up against. (What does the Lord require of you? To seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with your God - Micah 6:8)

There are millions of professing Christian adults in America who are capable of providing care for orphans, as James 1:27 commands us to do. And yet there are still so many children without a home, vulnerable to all kinds of atrocities. Why is there such a gap between our calling and our reality? One reason may be that most people are simply not aware of the problem. Others may be aware, but aren't willing to make the kind of radical commitment it takes to provide long term or permanent care for orphans.

I cannot adopt all 147 million orphans but I hope to be a voice for those who don't have a voice. Maybe the commands in James 1:27 (visit orphans and widows in their affliction, keep oneself unstained from the world) - are new to you, or maybe you just don't know where to begin. Well, it may help to know that orphan care doesn't HAVE to mean adopting children into your home. You can mentor children in a local group home. You can show unwanted children in your community that they are loved by God. Seek the Lord with an open heart and he will give you opportunities like these!

I do not say this out of self-righteousness or boastfulness, but not adopting is simply not an option for us. By adopting I can not only provide provide orphans with a family, but also with better health care and safety from human trafficking. My dream is that God will use our adoption to challenge others to care for orphans. God has opened the doors for us to adopt  from Uganda and we are walking through the doors with arms open, ready to embrace the children God brings our way.

Jennifer's Journey

You've gotten to hear from Morgan but now it's my turn...

As Morgan said in our first post, I've wanted to adopt since I was about 7. I distinctly remember being at a pool party (in Florida most kid parties have water involved) and meeting 2 brothers who were only a month apart in age. One was black and one was white. I was a little confused about how these "twins" could look so different. My mom explained that they were adopted and I thought it was the COOLEST thing ever! How cool is it to have two people with no biological connection be brothers? I wanted to be adopted...it seemed a lot more interesting than my boring story of growing in my mother's belly. I didn't understand, at that time, that I actually was an adopted child, one adopted by God.

As I grew up and read the Bible, I began to see that adoption was part of how God worked things out according to his plan. It seemed like adoption was everywhere I looked. God was constantly grafting people into his family and calling them sons. I knew that not adopting once I was married was not an option for me.

On our very first date, we were sitting by a pool (apparently adoption conversations are best had by a body of water) and I asked Morgan his view on adoption and whether or not he had to have his own biological family. It was a deal breaker for me...if he had said no to adoption then there would be no second date. Thankfully, Morgan said he was cool with going the adoption route...so I married him :-)

Over the last 5 years we have been enjoying our time without kids but we have also been preparing for adoption. When we got married I started praying for our children knowing that they probably were already born and would be going through hardship...they wouldn't be available for adoption without hardship. I had no idea what my children would look like, what country they would be from, would they be boys or girls but I knew that they needed prayer.

In the last year, we have sold our house and built a bigger one better suited to a growing family. We have taken in 2 teenage girls, due to the circumstances their story doesn't get to be shared...at least not yet. We have gone to an adoption conference and we have prayed that God would show us which way to go in regards to adoption.

We have friends who got a phone call one day asking if they would adopt a little baby boy. They hadn't even started the adoption process and yet God gave them a son! I started praying that God would give us clear direction like he did them. I didn't necessarily need a phone call like theirs but with 147 million orphans world-wide where do you start?

God answers prayer! I, too, got a phone call about adopting and all of a sudden our plans for 2013 changed. January started off as normal and by the 4th everything was different. As Morgan said before, we are living with a wonderful family from our church while our house is being finished. We have shared with them our heart for adoption (they live on a lake and as I said before, in my world, adoption conversations are best had by a body of water). They just so happened to have a connection to an orphanage in Uganda and just so happened to remember that we want to adopt. That's too many "just so happened"s for us not to see the hand of God in it.

I am married to a man who doesn't like change...I think God just laughed at him when he married me because I like change. I like to rearrange the house just because. I like to see things not working well and come up with a way to change it to make it better. I love projects...sometimes I have too many projects and Morgan has to bring me back to reality. So when my husband, who doesn't like change, said "Yes, let's adopt from Uganda" I knew that it was God working in him too.

Since Jan 4th, life seems to be put on fast forward. We still haven't even been able to move in to our new house but we have children on the way and I'm already in nesting and planning mode. We now begin fundraising with a goal of $25,000 to go get these kids and bring them home. It seems like an impossible task but thankfully with God all things are possible! :-)

Please do pray for us as we try to navigate these uncharted waters (to us they are uncharted even though many have done this before us) and get ready to expand our family. We only halfway know what we are getting ourselves into ;-)