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