Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to everyone. Happy Birthday to our Lord amd Savior Jesus Christ.

We celebrated the birth of our Lord and Savior yesterday. David read the account of Jesus birth. Then after dinner we sang Happy Birthday Jesus. We even had a birthday cake with a candle. Desiree blew out the candle.
Hope everyone out there had a good Christmas.

Blessings,
Melissa

Waiting child

Back in July I saw a little boy on the waiting child list. His picture just kind of jumped out at me. I didn't know which country he was from because the children are listed by region (e.g Asia, Africa, Europe...). I sent a message to our international case worker asking which country he was from and then said a prayer. I said" Lord, if this little boy is for us then please let him be from Ghana." It took a day or two before I heard from our case worker, but when she emailed me she said that he was from Ghana. I was convinced, David was not.

Fast forward a few months to last week, we watched a webinar from Bethany about waiting children. This little boy was on the webinar. While watching, I felt God speak to my heart and tell me that this child is mine. Again, I sent a message to our international worker and asked questions. She sent me a full report on him. I have no doubts now about whether or not this child is meant for us. David is not opposed to him but does not have the same certainty about him that I do.

I understand David's hesitation. This boy is much older than we had said we wanted, but I think this little boy is what God wants for us. Or maybe we are what He wants for this little boy.

We are very close to finishing our home study, but still have to do our dossier and until that is complete, we can't be matched with him. If this boy is meant to be ours than he will still be available when we are ready.

Due to Ghana's privacy policies, I can't give any details about him, yet.
I ask for prayer. Pray that if this child truly is meant to be our son, that all will go smoothly. But if he is not, please pray that God will give him a christian family who will love him with all their hearts.

Blessings,
Melissa

One more step

Well, we applied for our passports today. They should be here in about a month. We are one small step closer to our newest little one.

Got an email from our social worker saying that she has not recieved back the forms from our references. We contacted them and they said they have not gotten any letters to return. So she is supposed to send out the forms again. Hopefully , they make it where they are supposed to be. That seems to be the last thing we need to complete our home study. YAY!

God really does answer prayers. As I said in my last post, I have been feeling frustrated with how long this process is taking. Well, this morning I prayed that in some way we would make some kind of progress today. And we have! It was a small selfish prayer, but He answered. It felt like God put His hand on my shoulder just to remind me that He was still here, He does care, and He is still in control. Thank you Jesus!

Blessings,
Melissa

Christmas Tree

We put our Christmas tree up tonight. Desiree was sooooooooo excited. She actually was able to help this year.
We put up all 7 of our stockings. We have 8 stocking hangers and I hope that next year we can use the 8th one for our new child's stocking. I have been thinking alot about him/her lately. What is your Christmas like? Do you even celebrate Christmas? What  kind of presents would you like? Do you know Jesus or the Christmas story?

We are pluggung along with our paperwork. We recieved David's certified, state sealed birth certificates in the mail this week. We also recieved our certified, state sealed marriage license and my certified birth certificates. We'll have to get them state sealed.

I am feeling restless. I wish things would move faster. I want my child home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But I am TRYING to remember that God's timing is always perfect.

Blessings,
Melissa

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am thankful for everything God has given me. Especially my family, including the one who is not here yet.
Blessings,
Melissa

Tragic news

We found out this week that David's birth father died on Tuesday. Let me give you the background information. David's parents divorced when David was 2. His father left his wife and 3 young sons for another woman and never had contact with them again.
When David's oldest brother was an adult, he searched for and found his father. Those 2 had a relationship for 30 years, but David had no interest in meeting his father. David's mother remarried and  were married for 25 years until his death in 1993. This was the man that David called Dad. He was the one that raised David.
Well we found out about a month ago from David's brother that their father was ill. David said that he felt God telling him to see his father. David has vacation time coming up and he had decided to go see his father, but unfortunately he took a turn for the worse and died this week. The good news is David has a sister from his father and maybe he can learn about him through her. We'll see. You can never have too much family.

Blessings,
Melissa

We Ghana be famous

We were interviewed by a reporter from our local paper about our adoption today. She was very nice, I was very nervous! She asked all kinds of questions. I hope we did ok. She said we did. It will be in this weekends paper. Woohoo!!!!!!!!

Blessings,
Melissa

Orphan Sunday

Today is orphan Sunday and my thoughts are on the newest little Marques who is in an orphanage somewhere in Ghana. I wonder where are you? How are you? Who are you?
Are you wondering about me today? Do you wonder where your mother is today?
I can't wait to bring you home.

Blessings,
Melissa

Things on my mind

Alot has been on my mind today. I woke up to the news that our Ambassador to Libya was killed over night by Muslims angery over an anti-muslim movie. This made me so mad! If your religion can't take a little criticism than maybe there is something wrong with it. Christianity is constantly being criticized and we Christians do not behave this way. It just makes me furious. If one more persons says that Islam is a religion of peace, I will throw up.


The other thing on my mind is my neice Marana. Before she moved here, she had gotten a ticket for driving without insurance. What happened was: her mother had taken a pain killer and was unable to drive so Marana drove her. Marana got pulled over and when the officer asked to see the registration and proof of insurance, her mother said they had no insurance. It was Marana's mother's car and her responsiblity to make sure the car had insurance. Marana had no idea that there was no insurance, but she is the one who got the ticket.

 So Marana had to go to court last month for the ticket. The judge told her that although it was her mom's car, she was the one driving and it was her resposiblity to know whether there was insurance on the car or not. He said he could give her 6 months in jail but he would give her probation for 1 year. Part of her probation is she has to pay for the ticket and probation fees once a month for 1 year:$140 a month. Well Marana has no job. She has been looking but no one is hiring. Anyway, her dad gave her the money for this months installment. She mailed it off last week, but when she called her probation officer on Monday, she said that the money had not gotten there and if it didn't come by Wednesday she would go to jail for violating her probation. Well Marana called her probation officer this morning to check and she said that the money came in Monday after Marana had called. So because this woman couldn't pick up the phone and let Maran know that the money had come in Marana spent 2 days terrified she was going to jail. What has happend to common decency?

Well the good news is that Marana told me today that she wants to go to church every Sunday now. When I asked why, she said that she has felt faraway from God lately and she wants to get closer to Him.  Marana and I have become close since she moved here and I pray that God works a miracle in her heart and in her life.

Blessings,
Melissa

Update

Well David and I made an important decision tonight. We have decided to change the age range of the child we want to adopt. We want a boy or girl between 5 and 7 years old.

We have a few reasons for this change. We know that it's the older children that have the hardest time being placed and we have gone through the "baby" stage 4 times and don't really want to do it again. We also have learned that school children in Ghana learn English so maybe our child will know at least some English. Also a child in this age range will be between Desiree's and Brandon's ages so they will be young enough to play with Desiree and old enough to play with Brandon.

It's interesting to see how God is changing our hearts.

Blessings,
Melissa

A few thoughts

I feel like God has been talking to me lately, telling me to just rust Him with this adoption.

We originally said that we wanted a baby girl and then we upped our age limit to 4 years and said wew would accept either gender. Now I feel like God is telling me not to put limits on what He wants to do. My heart has been drawn to the older boys who have a hard time finding a home. Don't know what He has planned for us. Guess we'll wait and see.

Blessings,
Melissa

More negativity

Well, people's true colors are beginning to show. Some people just can't or won't see beyond the surface of a person's skin. Skin color is just that, skin color. It doesn't say anything about their intelligence or their morals. I knew that racism existed but it has never really been thrown in my face the way it has lately. I know this is something that we are going to have to deal with regularly now, but it still makes me angry.

 Because we are white,are we supposed to ignore all of the kids of different colors that are dying or living in orphanages that have no one to love and care for them? God says that we are to love ALL people. James 1:27 says that we are to take care of the orphan. It doesn't say just white orphans.

Someone actually said that because we now have Desiree, we shouldn't adopt a black child. Why? Is she going to be somehow corrupted because of our African child's skin color? That's absurd!

I have been searching for other families in our area that have children of different colors. I want Desiree, as well as my other children, to see that people are just people, not colors. A person's worth does not depend on how much melonin is in their skin.    

This is Desiree with some of her friends. Do they look like they care what color each other's skin  is?      

Blessings,

Melissa

Dream

I had a VERY vivid dream last night. I dreamed that someone handed me a little boy,  and said here is your son. He was black and probably about 1 year old. We were in a room filled with other people who were also receiving children. It was soooo real. I can still remember the feel of him in my arms. I woke up and had this ache in my heart. I can't wait till we actually get our child. I feel incomplete. Someone is missing from our family and I miss them even though I have never met them.

Blessings,
Melissa

Negative Comment

We had our firtst fundraiser on Saturday. We had a yard/bake sale in the fellowship hall of our church. Didn't do so well, but we plan to go the local flea market in about a month. Hope we do better then.
At the end of our sale, a good friend said she would take the rest of our baked goods to the local convenience store and try to sell them. When she explained to the owner what she wanted to do and that the proceeds would go toward our adoption fund, he said "Don't they have enough kids already?" Then he asked, "Where are they adopting from?" When she told him Africa He said, " Why don't they adopt fom here?" She then told him that we have tried for the last 6 years to adopt from here and he said," Well, I don't agree with it." This kind of shocked us because we have known this man for years and he has always been good to our family. We have a good friend who has adopted both internationally and a transracial domestic and she said "Welcome to the world of adoption." She lives in our town and she said she has experienced the same negativity. The one bright spot in this incident is David's response. He said, " Yes, we have children already, but a child in Africa doesn't have any parents." I am so proud of him. God has done such a work in his heart for adoption.

We had our second visit with our social worker today. All went well. We turned in some of our paperwork and had some questions answered. We have officially decided to adopt from Ghana. I can't wait till we FINALLY get to the point of getting a referral. I have been thinking alot lately about our child. Will it be a boy or a girl? Exactly how old will they be? What will they look like? What will their personality be like? I have been doing some research on Ghana, finding out some interesting things. English is the official language. Woo hoo!

Well, more later.
Blessings,
Melissa

My niece

Well, our James 1:27 life is getting even bigger. My niece, Marana is coming to stay. She won't be living in our house, but she will be on the property.
She has had a rough few weeks. First the house she was living in with her mom and step dad burned down. Then her mom, who has always had mental health issues. had a complete break down and was hospitalized. Then her step-dad said he was divorcing her mom because in his words"What's the point of being married if she is going to be like this?" And now her grandfather, whom she was staying with, is kicking her out because he says he can't take care of  another family.
All of this has made me so angry. When tragedy happens family is supposed to stick together and support each other. That was God's design for family. When you get married it is for better or for worse, in sickness AND in health. That's the vow you make when you get maried. You don't leave your wife because she is sick. And you certainly don't kick your grandchild out when she is homeless and her whole world is falling apart. It doesn't matter that she is 18. She still needs guidance and LOVE!
But as I have told Marana, she is ALWAYS welcome here. We are her family. We love her and will do all that we can to help her. If anyone is reading this blog, please pray for this beautiful young lady. She needs to feel God's love more than anything right now. I pray that David and I can be His hands and feet and show her His love.

Blessings,
Melissa

It's starting

David got the loan from his 401k and made our first payment to Bethany.

I started the paper work for our home study today.

We are officially on our way.

Blessings,
Melissa

First Visit

We had our first visit with our Bethany case worker. She was very nice, very perky. She answered our questions and gave us A LOT of paper work to complete. Our paper chase has begun.

Blessings,
Melissa

First Visit

We have our first visit for our home study scheduled for Friday, June 8th. Wow, it's really happening! I am so excited. I've been thinking alot lately about our soon-to-be African child. I saw on the news earlier this week about a food shortage in some countries of Africa. I held my breath until I saw that the countries we are looking at weren't involved. Don't get me wrong; I feel bad for all the people in the countries that are involved, but I was glad that our child wouldn't be one of them.

I have started to try to prepare Desiree. I have told her that we are going to have a new child come into our family. We know a family that have adopted an African child named Gabby. I told Desiree that our new child will have dark skin and hair like Gabby. She is excited about having another child(last night she said she wanted to sleep with our new kid), but I don't think she fully understands yet. I would love to have another girl so Desiree and she will have more in common. But I will joyously accept a boy if that is what God has in store for us. I know that boys have a much harder time being placed. I have 2 boys all ready and I love them with all my heart and I would love another if our child is a boy.

Well, wish us luck on our first visit.

Blessings,
Melissa

Disappointed

Who wouldn't want to see that face?
Desiree used to ask"Is it  Saturday yet?"because her birth father, Mike, would pick her up on Saturday. She has not asked that in awhile because Mike has been so irratic about his visits with her. She is realizing that her father is unreliable. And it makes me angry. I am angry because she has to feel the pain of disappointment. I am angry because Mike can't be an adult. I am angry because if he had let us adopt her in the beginning she wouldn't have to deal with this now.

But as always David and I are here for her.  I hope that she will grow up with a deep reasurance that Mimi and Poppy will ALWAYS be there for her.

Blessings,
Melissa

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day everyone. As mothers we have been so blessed to have the greatest job in the world.
I love being a mother. It's not always easy and I'm not always the best I could be, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Thank you Lord for blessing me.

Blessings,
Melissa

Family time

Had  great evening last night with my family. We were all outside not doing  anything special. Brandon rode his bike, Josh and David fixed the wheel on the lawn mower, Desiree drove her Barbie Jeep and I enjoyed just sitting on the deck watching this wonderful family that God has blessed me with. No TV. No computers. No cell phones. Just us enjoying being together. Love it.

Blessings,
Melissa

We're approved

Just found out today that our formal application from Bethany has been approved. Now wecan begin the home study process.

I was telling a dear friend today that ever since we made the decision to go with Bethany, I have had a very calm, peaceful feeling. Whether or not this works out the way I want it to, I know that God is in control. It's all in His hands. I'm just along for the ride.

Blessings,
Melissa

Here we go again

We completed our formal application for Bethany. We have not decided between Ethiopia or Ghana yet, but we don't have to until we finish our homestudy. Please continue to pray for us as we go on this journey. Please pray for guidance and for God's provision during this process.

Blessings,
Melissa

Happy Easter!

It's a day late, but I would like to wish everyone a happy Easter. What a glorius thing to celebrate, our Lord is risen!!!!!!!!!!!!

Blessings,
Melissa

Making Progress

Well, as I said in a previous post, we've had a set back in our adoption journey. Our first choice in agencies no longer has an Ethiopian program. On a whim, I fill out a preliminary application with our second choice, Bethany. Turns out we are eligable for 5 countries. Ethiopia is one of them. Ghana and South Africa were the others from Africa. It's between Ethiopia and Ghana. The others just aren't good fits for us. We will keep praying for guidance.

This last set back was devastating to us. We were so excited, because we were finally getting started, making plans, looking forward and then it all collapsed. I was depressed and sullen, but it never accured to me that David was also heart broken. He finally told me so tonight. That is why it has been so hard for him to think about finding another agency. But hopefully now that we have talked and know how each other feels, we can start moving forward again.

Lord, I pray for your guidance. Show us what You want us to do next.


Blessings,
Melissa

Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

My 12 year old son, Brandon had a writting assignment today entitled "My Christian Testimony".
I would like to share some of it with you.

   My Lord Jesus is faithful. He sees me through all life, gives me all I need, and gives me life. I have to give a sacrifice to Him to have all those things. I give my soul to Him, so He has one more soul to write in His Book of Life. I give Him all I have. I come to the cross with only my soul and my humility. And, even though I have sinned against God and should be given death, He forgives me, takes all my sis away, and makes me one of His children. God is an Awesome God.
    I am a Christian, yes. I try to be Christ-like. I remember that Jesus is my gateway to heaven and eternal life. I konw my God is faithful, and He will always look over me. I know it is hard to live in this world, but I keep my eyes on Jesus. But most importantly, I will praise my God through bad times, and good times, for all eternity. God is a powerful God, and I know this. Blessed be the name of the Lord forever.

Makes this Momma's heart proud to see how the Lord is working in my children's lives. I will agree with Brandon, Blessed be the name of the Lord forever!

Yet Another Setback

Well the agency we had chosen to use to help us adopt from Ethiopia informed us yesterday that they no longer have an Ethiopian program. At least we'll get our money back. Our second choice is no longer accepting applications for children under 3. The other agencies
i've looked at have significantly higher fees. Yet another setback in a long line of setbacks over the past 6 years. God, what do we do now?

Blessings,
Melissa

Abdominal Migraines

Our youngest son, Brandon, has been suffering from wierd episodes of nausea and stomach cramps for about 2 years. I finally took him to the doctor today to have him checked out. Turns out he has abdominal migraines. I have had regular migraines in the past, but had never heard of this before. Abdominal migraines are related to regular migraines, but the pain is in the stomach. We looked it up on the internet and Brandon has a textbook case. He has all the symptoms they mentioned. It also said that it could turn into regular migraines when he is an adult. The doctor gave us a worksheet to fill out when he has an episode to try and determine what his triggers are.

At least we finally know what is going on. We also found out that my nephew has this. I never knew that. Brandon was glad to hear it because now he's not the only one he knows who has it.Please pray for my little boy that these episodes will be few and far between.

Blessings,

Melissa

God's Design for Families

As I have mentioned in other posts, we are raising our Granddaughter, Desiree, aka the princess. Today was her visitation day with her Dad, Mike. When she woke up this morning I told her that today was Saturday. She started to squeal and said " Daddy get you!" I said " Yes, Daddy is coming to get you." She enjoys spending time with him. To her it's like going to see a fun uncle. David and I have taken on the parenting role with all of the responsibility and disipline that comes with it. And her parents are the ones she visits and has fun with.

Well this morning when Mike got here, Desiree was excited at first as usual. But when Mike started to take her out to the car, her lips puckered and her eyes filled with tears. She was trying not to cry. I just smiled and told her that she was going to have fun and we would see her tomorrow. But my heart was breaking. I know she will be fine. It's just the transition of going from one house to another and from one family style to another. It's hard on her. But this is the best situation we can come up with. She has a permanent, stable home with us and she still gets to know her parents.

 It got me thinking. This is exactly why God designed families to be permanent. So that kids don't have to face the trauma of going from house to house. I am looking forward to giving our child from Ethiopia a permanent home. I want her to know that we are her family forever.

Blessings,
Melissa

Post-birth abortion= murder

I read something the other day that really upset me. Two "scientists" in Austailia have written a paper saying that Post birth abortion is ok. They say that a newborn has no moral right to live because it has not made any contributions to society. The parents or society determines whether the child has a right to live or not. The Romans did this as did the Spartans before them. If a child was deemed unworthy, they were left on a hillside to die or be eaten by predators. In Roman times, Christians would frequent these places and take those children left to die and raise them as their own.

The one point that these scientists made that I agree with is that there is no difference in aborting a fetus and aborting a newborn. Both of these are WRONG! This  is the natural progression of the abortion mentality. If it's ok to kill a baby 2 minutes before birth than it's ok to kill it 2 minutes after birth, afterall not much has changed except location.

What really shocked me was to learn that this is practiced in the Netherlands right now! How can a civilized society kill the most innocent of it's citizenry? These are living, breathing human beings.

How this must hurt God's heart. He calls children a gift, a blessing from Him. How can we just throw these gifts away? How far we have sunk.

Blessings,
Melissa

Fundraiser

We are selling t-shirts as a fundraiser for our adoption. Scroll down on the left of the blog and you;ll find it. All you have to do is click on the link and purchase a shirt(if you so chose). Thank you so much and please spread the word. The more people who hear about it the more shirts we can sell, hopefully!

Blessings,
Melissa and David

I feel like Jonah

Ok so we all remember the story of Jonah right? God told him to go to Nineveh, but Jonah got scared and went to Tarshish instead. Jonah decided to follow his own plan and nothing worked out for him. When he finally came to his senses and did what God had told him to do in the first place then everything worked out.

Well, I'm Jonah. As I said before, after our third child was born I immediately felt the urge to adopt. My husband, however did not. I prayed for 6 years before God changed David's heart. When David finally agreed to adopt, I felt drawn to Africa right away, but we were both frieghtened by the cost. So we thought we would adopt from foster care. After all there were a lot of children in need of families and it wouldn't cost much, only a nominal fee. We were being financially responsible and doing a good thing. What could be wrong with that? We waited 2 years and never had a placement. Many people I talk to can't believe we waited 2 years and never had a placement from foster care. But it wasn't God's plan.

So after 2 years, we decided to try a private agency for a domestic infant adoption. We found an agency that had reduced fees. I still felt the pull toward Africa, but didn't think we could afford it. I mean $7 to $10 thousand was alot but it seemed doable compared with $25 to $30 thousand. When we began the process we didn't have any money, but in just a few months God had provided the money we needed. I felt optomistic and so we waited to be chosen by a birth mother. And we waited, and waited, and waited for 2 and a half years. Finally we were told by our case worker that we should try other agencies. I was despondent.

 I began to feel that old familiar tug in my heart for Africa. Soon afterward  it seemed like I was seeing stories of couples adopting from Ethiopia everywhere. Many of the couples had the same fears as I did about the cost but God always provided what they needed when they needed it. So I began doing some research on qualifications to adopt from Ethiopia as well as other places. The only place we qualified for was Ethiopia. All other doors were closing for us. I prayed and prayed and prayed. Was this what God wanted for us? After several months I became convinced that this is what we were supposed to do. When David and I talked about it he was not sure. I have a friend who once told me that God prepares the wifes heart first so that when her husband is ready she will be too. Finally a few weeks ago David's heart changed. We are going to do what God told us to do 6 years ago.

We have about half of the money we need but we are going to trust God to provide the rest. After all if He has called us, then He will provide a way. I am still scared, but this Jonah is going to her Nineveh.

Blessings,
Melissa

Why James 1:27?

We chose to call our blog Our James 1:27 Life because it represents our family well.

"...to take care of widows..."

When we got married we moved into a house on 5 acres right next door to David's parents and their 5 acres of land. When David's father died 5 years later, we made a vow to take care of his mother in anyway we could. Over the years that has meant fixing things that were broken, cutting grass, and taking her to the doctor. Last year a situation arose where it became necessary for us to move in with her( we moved into her house instead of her moving into our house because her house is much larger and she just plain didn't want to move).

Melissa's parents moved a trailer onto our property in 1994. Her father died in 2004 after a 9 year battle with cancer. We made the same vow for her mother. We have stayed with her during illnesses and surgeries, done maintanence on her house, cut grass and anything else that was needed to be done. It might be necessary for her to move in with us  sometime in the future as well.

"...and orphans in their distress..."

In 2008, our oldest child and only daughter, Tina, no longer wanted to live by our rules and so at the age of 19 she moved out. She not only walked away for us, but she also walked away from her faith which broke our hearts. After less then a year on her own, she found out she was pregnant. When she told us, she said that she did not want to be pregnant and was not prepared to be  a parent. We thank the Lord that she chose not to have an abortion. She knew that we were trying to adopt and said she would like us to adopt her child. We were, of course, willing. But the birth father was not. He refused to give permission. And so in February of 2010, our first granddaughter Desiree was born. Tina decided to parent her child. She tried to be a single parent (with lots of help from us) for 4 months,but she was not happy. She finally came to us and asked if we would raise her daughter. Desiree's father agreed to give us guardianship of her and she has lived with us ever since. She is our little princess. Tina and Desiree's father are still in her life, but we are her primary care givers.
And now,as I mentioned in yesterday's post, we are adopting an orphan from Ethiopia.

So our house is pretty full with 4 generations living there and hopefully it will be a
multicultural one as well. 

Blessings until next time,
Melissa and David

Welcome to our blog! We are David and Melissa. Let us tell you a little about ourselves. We have been married since 1988. We have 3 children : Tina, Josh, and Brandon. We are also raising our granddaughter Desiree ( we'll explain that on another post). And now we feel called to adopt a child from Ethiopia.

It has been a long and winding road to get to this point. All 3 of my pregnancies were high risk and after our last, my doctor advised me not to have any more. We agreed and I had my tubes tied. But I still felt the desire for more children. I felt called to adopt immediately, but David wasn't quite ready. I prayed for 6 years and God finally changed David's heart. Even though I felt called to adopt from Africa, we were frieghtened by the cost. So we decided to start the process to adopt from foster care. We waited for 2 years and never had a placement. We knew that foster care wasn't right for us. Then we changed to a private agency for a domestic infant adoption. We waited for almost  two and a half years with no placement. Our social worker suggested that we look into other agencies.

That is when I began to feel the pull toward Africa again. I did research for months and did a lot of praying. Finally, we decided to just trust God to provide and took the plunge. We are at the VERY beginning of this journey. We will need lots of prayer and support. Hopefully, we will have many updates as we progress through this process.

Blessings,
David and Melissa