Welcome Baby Jackson!

I know I am a little late posting this but I wanted to share that we are a aunt and uncle again!

We have a new nephew!

Our family welcomed Daniel "Jackson" Harker on 12-10-11 at 23:23pm! 

The Proud New Parents!

Jackson-1 Day Old

Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Psalm 127:3

This past weekend I decorated for Christmas, made Christmas wreaths and swags with my sister, put up our Christmas Tree and sang the first Christmas songs of the season in church! Oh how I love this time of year! What a wonderful season to celebrate our Maker and King!

Jared wanted to have a "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree"

We comprimised on a tree that I could actually hang lights and ornaments on! haha

We loved putting our child's ornament on the tree that I made last year! The back of the ornament says,

I will not leave you as orphans I will come to you John 14:18

Praise the Lord for his promises and that he is going to give our child a family! We pray that next Christmas we will have our little one home with us and that it will no longer be an orphan!!!


Here are some of the wreaths my sister and I made. Im sad I dont have any pictures of us sharing in this annual tradition! Especially since she is 39 weeks pregnant and looking great. We are going to have a new nephew to snuggle at Christmas! See, I told you this season is awesome! :)

10 months

    This past week officially marked 10 months of being on the waiting list.  This picture sums up the speed this process is going..........................  We didnt move any this month on the list and we are truly finding out what P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E really means.  Not a day goes by that I dont think and pray for our child and their family.  They are constantly on my heart and mind! I often find myself wondering what he or she is doing, what they look like, how old they are, what they like to eat, and what he or she will grow up to be.  My heart feels so connected to someone I have never met and I long for the day to love and hold them in my arms. We look forward to the day we will see our sweet child and hold them in our arms for the first time.  Ahhh .... all the good things we have to look forward to in 2012!!  We are so blessed to be on this journey!

    

  I am so excited that it is finally December! I love the Christmas season and look forward to celebrating Christ Birth!  We have a lot to look forward to this month and have lots to keep us busy as we wait in this process.  A great Christmas present would be to move into the teens on the unofficially waiting list and of course the best Christmas present would be to receive a referral this month.  We are grateful for the Lords provision and wouldnt trade any of the time we have waited up till now because God has taught us so much during this season of life.....

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven

Ecclesiastes 3:1

I am off to decorate for Christmas and hang the ornaments that I made for our little one on the tree!!  I will post some pictures soon! Have a great weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!  What a great day to rejoice in all the many blessings God has given us! Its a beautiful and unusually warm day here in Va and so we started our day off eating breakfast on the porch. I think breakfast on the porch in November was definitely a first for me!  Jared is enjoying sitting in the tree stand most of the day and later I am headed to work to delivery any little Thanksgiving blessings! Then tomorrow we will enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving with our family and eating tons of good food! :)
    The waiting list hasn't moved at all this month and this season of waiting is really getting long.......... This coming Monday marks 10 months of waiting to be matched with our little one.   However this month marks two years since God laid adoption on our hearts and when I think of how far we have come in this process and how time seems to have flown, it gets my heart and mind back into perspective.  This Thanksgiving we are first and foremost thankful for our salvation in Christ and then so humbled by God calling us to parent one of his precious orphans.  What an honor and a privledge to get to be a childs mom and dad that has no one else to love them.   We just really want to meet our little one!!  We continue to trust in Gods perfect timing and pray that this time next year we will have a sweet little one joining us at Thanksgiving dinner!   Thanks again to everyone that is praying for us and our child.  It means so much to us!

Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus 1 Thess 5:18

9 Months and Counting....

Last week marked nine months of us waiting to receive a referral for our child.  We really feel like the time has flown by! Crazy to think that if I had been carrying a baby I would be antcipating delivery at anytime.....    We are so grateful to God for having us on this journey of adoption and for this season of waiting. God continues to grow us, stretch us and teach us more about him during this time.  He also continues to fill our hearts with contentment for this season and love that grows more and more for a child we have never met.  We feel so blessed to have had such a humbling calling and appreciate your prayers as we patiently wait to be matched with our child.

But if we hope for what is still unseen by us, we wait for it with patience and composure.

Romans 8: 25

       

A Must Read!!

Kisses From Katie:a Story of Relentless Love and Redemption is a must read! Go to now to https://www.147millionorphans.com/Kisses-From-Katie-a-Story-of-Relentless-Love-and-Redemption_p_96.html and order her book and 50% of the proceeds goes to her Amazima Ministries. Then check out her blog and watch the You Tube video below!

September and October Update

So I am not so great at this blogging thing and tend to do better doing monthly updates.  Im sure when our precious child arrives I will try to be better about keeping you all up to date!  But for now, I will update you on the last few weeks of our lives.  We continue to see Gods hand in this adoption process and really appreciate you all that follow this blog, pray for us and for our child and their family overseas. We feel so blessed and humbled that so many people take our request for the orphans up to the Lord in prayer!

Some September and October highlights for us were........

Family from IL came to visit and we enjoyed catching up and loving on them and their precious kiddos!

We have been waiting for 8 1/2 months for a referral and have moved up to #21 on the unofficial waiting list with our agency!! We are slowly moving on up! We look forward to finding out who our precious child is going to be!! :)

In early October Emilee and I visited Tana, Chip and Tank and went to a really cool kids consignment sale.  We really enjoyed our time catching up with them, loving on Tank and talking about pregnancy and baby things!

Emilee and Tank sporting the Hokie gear for game day and reading books!

Tank is such a sweet and happy boy!

  Emilee (30 weeks) and Tana (23.5 weeks)! We are looking forward to the winter when baby Jackson and Baby T arrive!

Then this past weekend Jared and spent the weekend camping at Douthat State Park enjoying this beautiful fall weather.  It was a wonderful and relaxing trip that we both really needed away from our normal routines!