FOREVER WITH HIS FATHER

It is with a heavy heart that I am writing this post. On my last post, I asked for your prayers for a sweet family that is in the process of adopting two little ones from EE and for their son Dusty. They were contacted on Friday and told that Dusty was in the hospital and had been diagnosed with luekemia. Well, as they would later find out,  this was a mistake......they had mixed the boys names up, and it was not Dusty, but Nikita. Precious little Nikita.  He was the first little boy that Amy and John committed to, and because of him, they were then led to their other son, Dusty. As it turns out, Nikita had been in a coma for a couple of days and passed from this life into the arms of his FOREVER FATHER sometime on Friday.  Praise God, he is no longer sick, and he is no longer alone. My heart breaks for this family but I know that they will continue this journey with faith and Nikita will never leave their hearts. Knowing he is IN THE ARMS OF JESUS, makes this bearable for them and they will continue to praise their Father's name.  This is little Nikita.

If you will, say a prayer for this family and then tell someone about their story. Tell someone about these precious kiddos who need families to step up and go to bat for them. To step out of their comfort zones to give these kids a chance at life. Many of them, just like Nikita, need life saving medical treatments. All of them need a FOREVER FAMILY.  Remember, all you need is a willing, available heart........God will do the rest. He really will.

PRAYER WARRIORS

• When we were finally able to go public and announce that we were going to be Gabe's (Myron on RR) forever family, I received a special comment on one of my posts.  It was from a family that I didn't know and the dad of this family was the one writing the comment. He wanted to let me know that they were so happy and thankful that little Myron (Gabe) had a family now. He went on to tell me that he had been a Prayer Warrior for Myron and that their family had really considered adopting him. He let me know that they would still be "praying him home." Wow! I can't tell you how much that meant to me. You know, I just felt this connection with him. And would you believe that when his wife told me they too were adopting and gave me the name of their blog, it was one that I had been following already!  They are adopting two precious boys also from Reece's Rainbow.  I found out yesterday that one of the boys, Dusty, is in the hospital and they just diagnosed him with leukemia. Would you please pray for this little one and for Amy and John. It's already heart wrenching being in love with this child and knowing that they are alone and in the situation that they are in. Add to that, the fact that they are sick and need life saving treatment NOW, and you can't get to them. Please don't forget this family and this precious little boy. Be a prayer warrior for Dusty.

DUSTY

I bet he's sayin "Me, you want me?"

"Please Lord, send them soon."
I know not everyone can adopt. But EVERYONE can pray. I believe in prayer. And, I believe God's heart is for the orphan. The fatherless. The least of these. You can go to Reece's Rainbow and become an official prayer warrior for one or more of the kids listed there. They will give you your childs name and what region and country they are in and a bible bookmarker. You can then go on their site and see your child. And if that child's family finds them, then you can follow their journey until they are home. THIS DOES NOT COST A DIME.  It just takes afew minutes of your time to e-mail this request. Don't miss out on this blessing. These kiddos need all the prayers they can get. Thanks.

WHAT A DAY!!!

WE GOT IT!!! That one missing document we have been waiting on for weeks......we got it. Thank you Jesus! That alone was enough to make for a good day, but add that along with this special boy, and you've got a GREAT DAY!! Happy Birthday Cole Lawrence!! I can't believe he is 16 years old today. I can't imagine our life without him.

Of course, what he wanted was a new lawn mower, and what he got was.....a new lawn mower!

And would you look at his little "wizard cake"!! His sweet teacher, Mrs. Dutton, had that made for him. It was so cute and soooooo good too! Mrs. Dutton's husband has a "real" wizard lawn mower and Cole is always trying to trade him out of it or get it some how. When he does something that he thinks makes Mrs. Dutton happy, he'll say, "so now may I have Frank's wizard lawn mower?!"  He is a mess for sure.

He has had quite a day. Rick woke him up this morning by jumping on his bed and singing Coles birthday song.(mixin up the batter to the birthday cake) and then the phone began to ring for him. Mendie, Chrissy, Jocelyn, MiMi, and it was ringing when we walked out the door! He said, "Man, everybody sure want to talk to me!" He was so excited to go to school so he could tell everybody it was his birthday.(although i think he had already told everybody about 10 times last week!)  On the way home, I got to thinking and nearly had to pull over because I couldn't see for all the tears pouring out of my eyes. I was just so overcome with thankfulness to the Lord and to so many people who love him and show him such kindness and are just so good to him. It really fills this moms heart with joy when I see and hear the kind things you do for him. I thought about how different this morning and today will be compared to the day he was born.  There was no joy and excitement the day he entered the world. No family and friends waiting to see his sweet little face, no announcements going out to tell the world, "hey i'm here". No cute little nursery filled with cuddley animals and cute little clothes. But most of all, no mom, no dad, no brothers and sisters, no grandparents. Nobody. Just a very sick, little 3lb.boy, abandoned and alone.

That's what I thought for just a minute this morning.

That's when I nearly had to pull over.

BUT.....then this came to me:

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future"

God was there. He was there at his birth, and He was with him for the first year of his life while in the orphanage, and He is with him now. The Lord knew all along the plans He had for this boy. Thank you Jesus, that those plans included me.

COLE LAWRENCE.....WHAT A JOY AND HONOR IT IS TO BE YOUR MOMMA

I LOVE YOU TO THE STARS AND BACK......ABUNCH

HURRY UP WAIT

Are you kidding me??? We have been waiting for 1 document now, for over 2 weeks. Our homestudy was done on Jan. 17 and all came together really quickly.......except this one piece of paper. Granted, it is an important piece of paper. I check everyday and no one seems to know WHY it isn't back. On the good side of things, our agency in NJ has asked if we thought we could be ready to travel by maybe the end of March. Heck yeah! I could be ready tomorrow!! But, we can't do anything until this one piece of paper comes back.

Soooooo, all that "hurry and get all this paper work done and turned in" frame of mind, has now turned to "wait. wait. wait."  It is VERY hard to wait when you know your little one is facing another day of life existing in an orphanage. Yes, we are one day closer to getting him out, but he is also one day closer to being transferred to a mental institute where we may possibly NOT be able to get him. Ahhh, I can't even go there. If your reading this, then you have to have some interest in our little Gabe and the journey we are on. So, would you please pray for the missing paperwork we need, to arrive, and pray for Gabe's safety and health until we are able to get to him. Thanks so much.

 

Hold on baby......I promise, we're coming to get you.

FROM GOD WITH LOVE

I read this little story this morning and thought I'd share it with you. This was the first time I had seen this. It's really neat and it's really simple.......even though we tend to ALWAYS make it difficult.

simply put.....

GOD IS LOVE

Although this isn't all red and pink, or lacy and funny, this tells the REAL story of love........the GREATEST STORY OF LOVE.

The black is a reminder of our sin filled hearts. Red represents the blood of Christ that washes our hearts "white as snow."  The white, a picture of our pure hearts. Green represents the spiritual growth that takes place as we read His word and pray. And the gold is a symbol of our eternal life in heaven.

And now abide faith, hope, and love, these three; but the greatest of these is LOVE.

1 Corinthians 13:13

WANNA WRESTLE???

Will you wrestle with me???? I bet i hear that at least 5 times a day.  Cole loves to wrestle, but more than that, I think he just likes to agravate me by asking me the same thing over and over again!  BUT.....he does love to rough house with me. The only problem with that is this...........

He's as big or bigger than me!! The last time we did really wrestle, I got an elbow to the temple of my head and it HURT! But, even if we don't wrestle, we go thru the same scenerio everyday. He says, "will you (sometimes, may you) wrestle with me...say, no cole, your all grown up now." Thats how it goes, and then i say, "no cole, your all grown up now!"  He smiles and then goes about his merry way. Oh, how i love that boy of mine.

Do you have someone to wrestle with?? Or maybe I could ask, "Do you have someTHING your wrestling with?"  Just for the sake of this post, lets say you don't.  That gives me the real reason behind this post. Now then.....let me give you someONE or someTHING that you CAN wrestle with.

WHO is going to help this little one?? Or maybe this one........

WHO is being nudged to maybe put $10 in this childs adoption fund to help a family adopt him.

WHO is being convicted to "take a leap of faith" and adopt one of these treasures.

Who will tell someone else TODAY about  REECE'S RAINBOW......a christian ministry thats bringing awareness and families to orphans with special needs.

If by chance you don't have someone or something to wrestle with........would you please consider one of the above questions?

WANNA WRESTLE?????

A GIFT FROM GOD

Thirty two yrs. ago today, I was blessed with my first born. A beautiful little girl who was truely a gift from God. As soon as I held her , I knew how it felt to have my heart beating outside of my body.  

For 32yrs. she has given me more

joy than is measurable.

                                        

CHRISSY LYN LAWRENCE

I am so proud to be your momma.

I LOVE YOU TO THE STARS AND BACK.....A MILLION TIMES

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY PRECIOUS BABY GIRL



VICTORY

For the Burmans, this is a day they will never EVER forget. Today, in an EE country, our  Miracle-Working, Mountain-Moving, Awe-Inspiring, Gasp-Giving God moved hearts in FAVOR of the lost and forgotten. Tori, or Reagan Faith as her name is going to be, got to meet her forever family. Not only is this a victory for Tori and her family but also for the others who wait at this orphanage. Precious Tori is the FIRST and ONLY child that has ever been adopted from this place. Never before was this allowed. A country that was bound by the past laws of communism where they said a child who is disabled should be sent away forever. But after today, there is HOPE.  This is Tori and her mom.

.

Tori's victory could also be a victory for these two little ones. But they need a FAMILY. They are almost fully funded. Only a small amount of money is needed to bring these babies home.

MASHA

EDDIE



Blessing in Obeying

This was the title of my devotional this morning.......the scripture was Matthew 4:18-22.  Thank you Lord, for continuing to give me just what i need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Continue to give me the faith to humbly listen and obey Your voice, especially when "the world" tells me different.

WHY???

I have sat here for the last hour and a half trying to figure out the best way to get across to some people WHY we are going to a foreign country to adopt a child when there are lots of  kids right here in the good ole U.S.A. that need homes.(and by the way, i have also adopted from the USA).   When Rick first told me about an e-mail his mom got from  a FAMILY member, my gut instinct was to chew them up and spit them out! But, as i sat here and calmed down some, i know there are alot more than just some family members that wonder that same thing. And that's ok. But i am going to try real hard here, without cussin and screaming, (maybe) and tell you WHY we are adopting a special needs child from an orphanage from another world basically. But first, let me say this. EVERY child deserves a family, and why or how some people can think that only kiddos from the USA should be the ones that get them kinda makes me sick. Forget about politics for just a minute and focus on these kids.  All children deserve a family to love them and care for them. They deserve to be taken care of when they are sick, they deserve to be fed and clothed and loved. ALL of them, regardless of what country they live in. And ,I'll be the first to tell you that i think our Childrens Social Services-Foster Care System stinks. There is LOTS not right that is happening there. But, the last time i checked, kids that are in foster care here in the United States are not living the ways kids around the world who are in orphanages are living. Here in the US, we do not put kids in mental institutes when they turn 4 or 5yrs.old because they are physically or mentally challenged.We do not let them lay in beds without medical care until they die.  Here in the US we don't make them sit all day in a shed or bound them in their cribs so they can't climb out because we don't want to take care of them or because there are not enough people around to take care of them. Nor do we line them up in an assemble line for potty breaks.

 Micah, just transferred, afraid and alone.

the shed where Aaron and 15 other boys spent most days. just sitting. doing nothing.

 bound tightly, day after day, night after night, so not to climb out of cribs

this speaks for itself......

Now......i could go on and on about WHY we are going to adopt a special needs child from an orphanage in a foreign country. I can assure you its not because we have the money........its not because we don't have enough kids already.........its not because we have extra time on our hands........its not because we want to travel ........its not because we're worried about having an "empty nest" someday..........and its certainly not because we want to "make some kind of statement or name for ourselves."  

Fifteen yrs. ago, my eyes were opened to a world I had no idea existed.  My life and my heart were forever changed because of a plea and a prayer. It was really pretty simple. A crossroads in life. A cry for guidance and a prayer to make a difference for Him.........not MY will Lord, but YOURS.

I had never thought about foreign adoption. I wasn't thinking about adoption at all.

All I did, was make my heart AVAILABLE. God did the rest. 

 And look what HE did............

Samuel Tadas Cole Lawrence

So why are we doing this.....adopting a special needs kid from a foreign country thing???

BECAUSE

   "Once our eyes are opened, we can't pretend we don"t know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, know that we know, and holds us responsible to ACT.  Proverbs 24:12

So....... because of him, Cole, and HIM, the Lord, we are bringing THIS little guy home to his FOREVER FAMILY.......US, the lawrence and decker bunch!!!

Gabe (Myron on RR)

Gabe singing and dancing

Now, you tell me.......how lucky and blessed are we!

And all we did was make ourselves AVAILABLE to God.

And when He nudged our hearts......we stepped out in faith and said "Yes."

Period.



Now you know WHY.





PAPERS PAPERS PAPERS!!!!

Just in case you thought I had left you.........NOPE.........just been alittle pre-occupied!  But, I am excited to say that our homestudy is complete with Texas agency, NJ agency packets will be complete and sent first thing in the morning and the compiling of our dossier is also underway.  There is so much to do and when you aren't the best "multi-tasker" then it can get a little crazy.  I'm corresponding with 3 different organizations and keeping everything straight has been quite interesting.  But.....we're movin right along.  Be sure and check back in a day or two and see whats happening then.  Blessings to you and yours.