I agree!

First of all, this is not Katherine posting. It is time for me (Jake) to have my hand at my first ever blog post. I apologize for the numerous misspellings and the possible confusion due to my lack of writing skills.

So here it is...

After reading and thinking about Kat's post from May 17th. (her Dove chocolate experience), I am going to have to agree with message printed on the tin foil.
                                       

"You are exactly where you are supposed to be."

Katherine is a wonderful friend and does such a beautiful job of taking care of me. She is eager to make my lunch and is patient with me while I look for my cell phone, again. She even brings the phone to me at work when I leave the house without it. What more could a man want? On top of all this...she is so good looking! So, I have to agree. She is exactly where she is supposed to be. 

There is another man in this house that I am sure agrees, too. Asher has the best childhood in the world. He get to run around all day playing with his mom and he never has to worry about when to get a diaper change! She changes it every time he needs it! He gets to run outside and get nasty and Kat is right there in the middle of it all. She teaches him animal noises and new words every day. He is getting so smart and never lacks an ounce of love. So, like I said, he agrees too. But this blog is supposed to be about adoption, right?

I have a feeling that there is a kid or two halfway around the world that agrees with us. A child that seldom gets a touch, much less a hug. A little boy or girl that has never been told "I love you", or a precious girl with little or nothing to eat. There, in a place that stifles the imagination; and severs their ability to connect, learn and thrive. They will not be there for long, though because there is hope for these little ones. A sweet hearted lady from far away is preparing for his arrival. She has been moving beds into our house and selling bread for these kids plane ticket. This children's soon-to-be-mother is praying for their health and safety. Katherine is excited to sacrifice her comfort for the needs of kids she has never met yet! I think they will be in full agreement that Katherine is right where she needs to be. On her way to be a loving, caring Godly, and perfect mother to a couple marginalized children far away.  So, whoever the children might be, I feel sure that they agree.

I think that Dove chocolate was right on the money. Do you agree?

All for now, 

Jake  

Childhood Memories

Over the past couple weeks I have been reliving my childhood by typing an autobiography.

Before our next home study meeting Jake and I will have to complete this autobiography.  We are answering a bunch of questions about our families, past jobs, our parents discipline styles, jobs we've had, our marriage, etc....

It's been fun reaching back in the archives to remember childhood memories with my family.  Let's just say, we had a good time.  Here are some examples of things that ran through my mind:
~My siblings, me and my dad running down the beach.  We all ran under this beach house and jumped over the low hanging hammock...except my dad who tripped over it and fell face first in the sand!
~Music--From Becca and I having concerts in my room with all the lights off except one flash light hanging from the ceiling and some candles burning to sweet jam sessions in the band room (me on the drums, Daddy on the bass and Gresham on electric guitar).
~Hiding behind Becca's bed while my mom was kissing her goodnight and then talking to her for a little while before she went to bed.
~Mom would always say to us on walks, "I'll give you a dollar if you can name that plant."  (Then she had to stop offering us a dollar because we knew them all!)

Sitting here thinking about all these fun memories makes me a little sad though.  To think that the kids we are going to adopt most likely won't have such fond memories of early childhood...
I've gotten quite a reality check lately of the trials of adopting--kids not attaching to you as their parents because they have never learned how to attach to anyone, literal chemical imbalances due to the lack of physical and emotional needs being met, dealing with a child who may have been sexually abused...the list could go on!
Makes me thankful for the family God placed me in.  Which brings me hope and a desire to make sure that at least one or two kids could be rescued out of all that junk to live in a home where they know they are loved and will be taken care of.  A home where they can learn how God has adopted us into his family and loves us and takes care of all our needs too.

A Little Practice With 3

We are praying and working towards adopting two kids from Ethiopia.  So far, most of the reasons to not adopt two have been pretty lame.
Here are a few examples of reasons that have been given:
1.  you'll have more laundry and cooking to do
2.  you may have to pay two college tuitions at the same time
3.  if they are not related and the same age, they will have to explain to people they are not twins

Now I know there are some legitimate concerns about quality time and making sure that your children (adopted and biological) are all loved and know they are loved.  But I am sure with a lot of help from friends, family and God, along with a ton of prayers, our children will know they are loved by us and by our Lord.
Start praying now for us as we move towards adopting two children!

Well, I haven't had much practice at having three kids all at once.  I've babysat three kids a time or two but mostly my expertise has been in the realm of one to two kids.  The other day I had my go at having two extra kids plus Asher.
It was a very fun morning!
We started off watering the plants and blowing bubbles.  Then I fit three (yes, three) car seats in the back of my car to make our way to the bank.  Thankfully, they got suckers because I told them we were going to the bank to get suckers!

So maybe we might need a bigger car eventually...nah!

Thankfully everyone got the color they wanted....Asher had no choice.

 Then after much begging, I gladly pulled into the park for a fun hour or more on the playground.  These kids are incredible climbers....I had to watch them all very closely.

We did it!

Isabel, Asher, and Alex (aren't they so cute!?)

After a snack/lunch, Asher was off to bed and the two other kiddos left with there aunt (...well, after a collision due to chasing bubbles....nothing a little ice can't help!)

Now, I didn't have to do their laundry or cook a bunch of extra food and I'm surely not thinking about paying for these kids college tuition!  But I did have a good time getting a very small glimpse of the joys of having a few extra kids in our home....and I'm looking forward to it.

Dove Chocolate

As a mom, you need those little reminders that you are special and you do a good job at what you do.  And sometimes those reminders come in really random ways...

I usually get a good laugh out of a fortune cookie fortune by adding some funny phrase at the end.
Dove chocolate is another one.  The Dove chocolate fortunes (or whatever you want to call them) are usually really lame and cheesy....no need to even add a funny phrase at the end--just eat your chocolate and move on!  Well, last night I went to put a Dove chocolate in my ice cream.  I did read the saying just for kicks....and it was actually a good reminder!

Thank you Dove!

"You are exactly where you are supposed to be."

Sometimes it is hard to be a stay at home mom.  You feel like nothing ever gets done--there are always dishes in the sink, the five loads of laundry in your room just won't disappear, and the shower....well, the shower needs to be cleaned more often....

Then I hear little foot steps across the tile floor (that needs to be swept and mopped) and around the corner comes Asher!  Usually grinning and being extremely cute....even if he is bringing me a page he's ripped out of a book.  In that moment, I am reminded that I am where I am supposed to be--at home with my sweet son being the best mom I can be!

I love being Asher's mom!  He is my little side kick.  We do everything together.
So I thought I would share some pictures of him in all his cuteness :)

Spelunking time! Wearing Dad's headlamp.

He loves hats.

Playing the piano (...or turning on and off the light on the piano...whatever)

I love it when he laughs and smiles!

I am looking forward to being a mom of more children....and also praying for lots and lots of grace!  I'm banking on the Lord giving me the wisdom on how to be a Godly mother....which is way better than any sort of fortune cookie or Dove chocolate saying.

"[The older women] can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God."

Titus 2:4-5 

10,000 Loaves

So, I've decided to bake sourdough bread to raise some money and awareness for our adoption.

The other night I was explaining to Jake that I was going to start selling some bread.  Then I asked, "How many loaves of bread would I have to make to raise $2,000 if I sold them for about $6 each?"  He looks up from his book, does the math in his head and responds, "10,000 loaves."
I paused.
He paused.
Then I started laughing hysterically!
That is a TON of bread!  There's no way that number is right!
After a couple seconds of laughing, we resolved that it would be closer to 400....still a lot of bread, but not near as much as 10,000!

"Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass.

So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.  Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves.  

Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people.....

They all ate and were satisfied..."

Mark 6:39-42

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If you are interested in purchasing some bread, you can contact me through facebook or email (kcash7@gmail.com).

Who, What, Where, When, How?

Who? What? Where? When? How?
I'm sure those are all the questions everyone is asking right now.  In this post I hope to answer those questions and give you an idea of what's going on now and what the process will look like...

Who?
Well, there are a few who's in all this--and I'm not talking about the Grinch Who Stole Christmas!

~Who is our adoption agency?
 Lifeline Children's Services.  They are an awesome agency that has been so helpful and kind right from the beginning!  Check out their information video to get to know the agency.

~Who are our children going to be?
We don't know this yet and probably won't for many more months.  Paper work first, then we will start choosing.
Did I mention we are thinking about two kids?  Pray for wisdom on that :)

What?
What will the process look like?  It would probably take a few blogs to get all those details in....so the short and sweet of it is we will have a home study done (I'll share more about those later), then we will work on immigration approval, then complete our dossier, wait for a referral, choose our kid(s), then make two separate trips to Ethiopia and on the second trip bring our kid(s) home.

**I know there are a lot of terms that probably don't make sense to the average person (I didn't know what all this meant until recently...and am still learning!)  But have no fear, I will be explaining things as time goes by.  Maybe by the end of all this, you will know so much about adoption, you may just adopt a kid yourself!  Just maybe...

Where?
We are adopting from Ethiopia!

When?
Timelines are always variable.
So, we know that we just started about two months ago and we'll see how long it should take.  Potentially two years, but we are praying for sooner!

How?
How we will raise enough money, wade through all the paperwork, travel twice to Ethiopia, raise Asher in the process, spend time together as a family, stay hopeful when we get down, etc, etc, etc,...?

God.

He's the reason we are even doing this in the first place!  As I said in the first blog, He has adopted us into his family and called us his children.  Thanks to Christ's sacrifice for my sins, I have a hope of glory.  I've been redeemed!
I know that God will strengthen us and provide everything we need for this adoption process and once we have our kid(s) home with us!

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I hope this has answered at least some of your burning questions.  If you have any more, please feel free to comment here, email, or facebook me.  We'd love to keep you in the loop!

First Blog on Our Adoption Journey!

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as 

we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.  

For in this hope we are saved.  

But hope  that is seen is no hope at all.  Who hopes for what he already has?  

But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

Romans 8:22-25

Over the past year Jake and I (Katherine) have started to really wrap our minds around adoption.  We are God's children...heirs...brothers and sisters of Christ...and all this because of adoption!

Out of our realization of our adoption into God's family and seeing the great need in our world to take care of orphans, we have decided to start the adoption journey!!

Crazy?

Yes.

Worth it?

Totally!

We hope through this blog to keep you all updated on our journey.  We beg for your prayers and support through this time--it will be much needed.

Look to hear from us again soon with more details about where we are in the process.

Until then....

Peace, love and joy!