"Mountain Of God"

Thought that I was all alone
Broken and afraid
But You were there with me
Yes, You were there with me

And I didn't even know
That I had lost my way
But You were there with me
Yes, You were there with me

'Til You opened up my eyes
I never knew
That I couldn't ever make it
Without You

Even though the journey's long
And I know the road is hard
Well, the One who's gone before me
He will help me carry on
After all that I've been through
Now I realize the truth
That I must go through the valley
To stand upon the mountain of God

As I travel on the road
That You have lead me down
You are here with me
Yes, You are here with me
I have need for nothing more
Oh, now that I have found
That You are here with me
Yes, You are here with me

I confess from time to time
I lose my way
But You are always there
To bring me back again

Sometimes I think of where it is I've come from
And the things I've left behind
But of all I've had, what I possessed
Nothing can quite compare
With what's in front of me
With what's in front of me

We Don't See The Big Picture Like God Does

Even though Chloe has been home now longer than we waited for her, I still get asked all the time "How did you do it?" "How did you get through such a difficult time?"
Every time I get asked this, I think I get a small glimpse of that "Big Picture" Daniel was always talking about while we were waiting on Chloe. Yes,at the time I certainly did not understand why He wasn't bringing Chloe home when we wanted her home. I would even selfishly remind Him that He was suppose to be giving us the desires of our heart. He didn't need reminding, He knew all along His plan for our family. He wasn't going to bring her home one day sooner than she was suppose to and I am ashamed to say, I just didn't understand that until after He brought her home.
Would people be asking me "How did I do it" if our journey had of been short, sweet, and smoothe? Absolutely not! But because we did have such a long and difficult journey I am able to share God's love with others. For you see, no matter how low and discouraged and dissapointed I was, He was always there with me. He was faithful even though I was not. He was always there spreading His arms around me and loving me no matter how unworthy I was. Without God I could not have made it, without God I would not have made it. Because of that journey I am able to tell others with all the sincerity that I have in my heart that God is all knowing, that He is love and that He is our comforter, and because He is God if we put our trust in Him He will fulfill His plan for our lives. Praise The Lord He owns the BIG PICTURE!

Prayers to bring E HOME

While I am praising the Lord that R is coming home, I am also praying for another friend and her little boy E. Please join me in praying this little boy home.
She has the same attorney we had with Chloe's adoption and I know it doesn't seem possible but they have actually had more problems than we did. E turned 2 in July and they have been kicked out of pgn since February. With all the uncertainty with Guatemala right now and all the talk about Guatemalan adoptions shutting down we are asking the Lord to let His timing be now and bring E home. We will give God all the praise, honor, and glory. Please join us!!!!!!!!

Thank You Lord - Another Friend OUT of PGN

I am just praising the Lord today because my friend K got out of pgn today. Her daughter R just turned 1 in August and it has been a long road for them.
God is so good and we are now praying that he brings R home very soon.

I met K a couple of years ago when she had used our agency previously when adopting her precious little boy. My agency had given me her number to call and talk to her about going on a visit trip to see Chloe. K had fostered her son for a few months before bringing him home, from that very first phone call we were fast friends.
She was living in Germany at the time but it didn't matter we still called each other and emailed each other often. It's really quite interesting to think that even though we were going through one of the hardest times of our lives, God so graciously brought so many people into our lives that because of it we will have life long friendships. I remember many of days crying on the phone with K (in Germany) questioning would we ever bring Chloe home. She would just sit there on the other end of the phone and listen and she was always praying for us. She celebrated with us when we finally brought Chloe home. Just a couple of days after that she sent her a welcome home gift from her and R, it was a beautiful outfit with matching shoes and a hat, and I will never forget the card that was with it.
It was from her son and it was congratulating Chloe for making it home to the United States and it talked about how we had been waiting and praying for her for so long.
I have that same card in Chloe's treasure box. And that's where R's story begins, K started talking about Chloe's curly hair all the time and the hairbows and I just knew it was just a matter of time before K would be adopting again. I wasn't surprised at all when she told me that they were starting the process again.
R's adoption has taken longer than her older brother's but it is finally almost over and it is just a matter of weeks and she will be reunited with her precious Godly family and we are rejoicing. Thank you Lord for this blessing!

Dossier Finished - Waiting on INS Approval

We pick up our bank letters tomorrow and our dossier paperwork is finished. Praise The Lord! I still have to send everything to the Secretary of State to be verified but am going to wait till the I171H comes in because it has to be verified too, so we will just do it all at one time. From there J will send it to be authenticated and will send it to be translated in Vietnam.
I cannot believe how fast things are moving. I do realize that there may still be a long wait for a referral but I am just so happy that the bulk of the paperwork is finished. Compared to Guatemala this Dossier was a piece of cake.
Please join us in prayer that the Lord will send us the funds to complete the next step in the process, we still need to pay the agency another $3,000 and then 1/2 of the Vietnam fee ($5,000). I know without a doubt that the Lord has lead us here, therefore I know he will provide what we need just when we need it. It isn't for me to know when or how just that He will do it. We serve a mighty big GOD and I know I know I know He will provide! Thank you so much for your prayers!!!!

What? Did you say start working on our Dossier?

That's exactly what she said! YIKES! We met with J today to go over our approved home study and she told us to go ahead and start gathering our documents for our DOSSIER. Wow! We sure are moving along. I really wasn't expecting to be doing this for another few months, but I am excited that we are at this point.
I know that it is going to get a whole lot harder especially once we get a picture, but right now, I am calm. I was so anxious waiting on Chloe's referral but for some reason it is different this time. I think having Chloe already at home helps with that or maybe it has to do with very few people know about it. Not sure but needless to say that I am so very thankful to the Good Lord above that I am not stressing over this

Chloe the school girl.............

Summer is coming to an end and yes it is time for the princessa to go back to school.
No more going to work with daddy and no more staying up till 11 pm and sleeping in till 11 am.
She was so excited this morning that I barely got a kiss from her. She kept telling me & her daddy that we didn't have to go in with her, that she would be fine.
I guess I should be thrilled that she loves it so much that she doesn't miss us, but
and I really am, but it makes me sad that my baby is GROWING UP!
By the time we get that baby brother of hers here, she is going to be a little girl and not a baby. She has already been telling us that she is going to feed him his bobbie, his pacy, and give him a bath, but she will not wash his hair because he doesn't like his hair washed. Guess who else doesn't like their hair washed?
She amazes me every day at how smart she is. Maybe it has something to do with older siblings, I am not sure, but sometimes I have no idea where she comes up with some of the stuff she says.
I sure do love this baby girl!