How it all began!

Micah 6:8 Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God? The voice of the LORD will call to the city-- And it is sound wisdom to fear Your name: "Hear, O tribe. Who has appointed its time?

…As you know Orphans are heavy on Gods heart and because they matter to Him, they matter to us too. We have been repeatedly blessed by adoption and have travelled enough to know, that the problem is not under control nor going away. That unless families step up to adopt, the problem will get worse. In fact here in the U.S. the problem is actually growing due to drug abuse, sexual abuse, domestic violence, gang violence and Fatherlessness. There are far more injustices than there is justice for these vulnerable ones. Today, just who is actively pleading, the case for the Orphans? Me? You? Jesus Christ is and does everyday. And so He invited us to do so as well, only as Foster Parents this time. We had no plans of adopting, instead just trying to be helpful, as best as we could to relieve the cry of the 'Social Orphan' in our very own backyard. The ones caught in a broken system, with no end at times and no solution but instead a merry go round, that goes and goes and no body knows where it turns. Sometimes it stops and families unite, other times, they go to group homes where things turn more tragic like abuse, violence or death usually caused by self harm and loneliness. And sometimes, yes sometimes, a foster home turns out to be a forever home. We began the journey in faith and reached out as part of a Church/Community effort. And we decided to take the PIP classes, where you receive so many hours of foster training and case studies to prepare us for the journey ahead. A lot of the videos are the same training we received when we adopted internationally. Its about caring for children who are broken hearted, that were abandoned and/or neglected. Mostly, it was about being a Community of helpers to step up and say I will make a difference, I will be a voice for those who do not have any power or say. This would be Justice and Mercy and walking Humbly with our God. When you become a Foster Parent after having adopted already, you go along with things and expect to be humored, every country has its rules and red tape, even ours. You get to see a lot of different dynamics that you may have never noticed before with an International country; mostly, because of language barriers and usually the agency handles the majority of the contacts and appointments etc. Well now for those of us who are curious enough, as a Foster parent, you get to know all the appointments, contacts and characters involved: social workers, guardian ad litems, judges, even biological parents and grandparents...and you are one of the characters too. As a foster parent, you will provide a loving home to a child who may have never experienced a family or stable home. You will foster multiple children too and love each as your own while being sensitive to each child's respective situation. Sounds easy enough right? I had some friends who adopted internationally too and 2 of them had their children in a foster home before arrival instead of an orphanage (my 2 girls resided in orphanages). I noticed their children were very well adjusted, had strong bonds when they arrived home and seemed to be better learners, in other words more focused than our girls were. So Fostering did always intrigue me, it is just slightly different I suppose to foster a true orphan with no relatives to one with many relatives who live really close to your residence.

Save A Seat For A Child

Attempting Another Adoption....

Deuteronomy 10:17 "For the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! These Holy days always bring such joy and surprises but none as so much as 2016-17! Praise God, Hallelujah and Amen. I speak not only on my own behalf but also on the many, many testimonies and miracles my husband and I have personally witnessed. Therefore it would be criminal to not blog; although I did not realize this, until very recently and very late in the game. I am totally convinced by now that I am a very, very slow learner. Allow me to highlight a few things that I have learned especially in 2016. *Obedience is greater than sacrifice. *Loving thy neighbor as thyself, even means husbands and children, siblings and friends. *The devil attacks right under your nose or right in front of your face not through the White House. *partial obedience is still disobedience. *Love, love, love....is greatest. *Prayer, praises and Praying without ceasing result in serious victory. *Don't steal or mask His Glory, you'll lose it big time if you do. *Good works aren't good if your the center of it-or you've already received your reward. *Do it prayerfully, humbly, sincerely and sacrificially. *You can't out-give God! *God is a God of good gifts so receive it with wide open hands please! *Praise Him! Praise Him in the morning, noon and night! *Love His people-all of them...think of how He feels not how you feel! *Did I mention love? Love covers a multitude of sin....don't you think love is important? *Hold your arrows and forgive...justice comes sooner after your forgiving. *Divine Time....tic toc tic toc....ring, oh ya cause He said so! *Patience truly is a virtue-its Godly. BTW neglecting a blog is not fun. Because you have relearn everything again and update yourself on the technology of blogging, domain and 2 years of being away not to mention, old usernames and passwords-yuck. I am going to have to use my journal notes for my timeline, dates and notes. Also, we are still walking through the journey and are not finished yet. Some of it seems like old news, some of it is oh so fresh and unknown. All we do know right now is that He promises to complete what He has started.

Latest updates:

We had a kitchen fire....yeah, not sure yet how that happend. We've been trying to get the house together, but its been a slow process. Faith will begin homeschooling with Classical Conversations-ABC's this fall. Faith is finally, potty trained-yeah! Faith is also commencing her first year of Ballet/Acro. We had a very quiet summer this year, we were busy, busy, busy with no vacations;( I don't even have photos to update you with. Also, things seem to change a little with teenagers, let's just say that. I hope all is well, in Blog land. Blessings in His Shalom, J.

Happy One Year FaY FaY!

December 30th is Faith's 'gotcha day' where has the time flown, it seems as though she has always been in our lives, to think she was in an orphanage just last year is unbelievable-and she has progressed so well. She is a blessing and a treasure to us. Our life is forever changed because of our youngest daughter's presence in the family. We have just completed Faith's one year post placement report for China. And per China's new rules (they are trying to be more flexible for adoptions) we no longer require a social worker to fill out our reports, we can now send them on our own now-yeaahhhh! Faith celebrated her first Christmas as well as Jiaxuan-they were both quite thrilled! I hope you all had a blessed Christmas-ours was exceptionally special. I pray for an amazing new year with many of the Lord's blessings!
Shalom xox

Our Tricks and Treats

November's Adoption Awareness Month

http://rescuechristians.org/government-spain-partners-rescuechristians-org-rescue-orphans-iraq/ How often do we revisit adoption awareness month and think about our local foster care organizations, and popular countries like China, Columbia when we think about the orphaned population. What about places like the middle east and the recent disruptions there? Have we given thought to the consequences of the recent attacks on Christians in Iraq? With the increasing awareness of persecution of Christians caused be ISIS (Muslim extremists). There are now many orphaned, abandoned and abused children as a result. This one is heavy on my heart. I say let's acknowledge this and do whatever we can to support these children this month and acknowledge their families who fought the good fight. Please continue praying for them. If they decide to place these children with Christian families in West, that would be a blessing to both them and to us-Christ's Holy Church. Visit the link to find out more. http://www.persecution.com/ https://barnabasaid.org/ RESCUECHRISTIANS.org Be apart of the greatest mission in history! God Bless Spain for its concerns and aggressive action in protecting the Church! Praise God for the Conservative decisions that recently played out-Go Florida! Praise God for what He is doing to our hearts! Praise Him, Praise Him all the time we don't know what He is doing but He is doing something amazing before our very eyes! Blessings to you my brother and sisters in Christ. Let's turn this country around by prayer first and foremost! Shalom!