So Much Has Happened!

Has it really been since Christmas that I wrote a blog??  Sorry for keeping you all on pins and needles! ;)

The past few months has been quite a whirlwind.  There is much to report!

JANUARY

Asher turned 4 on January 14th!  It's crazy to think that around the time of his first birthday is when we decided to embark on this crazy adventure of adoption.
We also started to renovate our bathroom.  And guess what, it's still not put back together! (LOL) I'm thinking it will be complete by next week...hopefully....

Eight children were placed with their forever family...and that puts us eight more spots closer to knowing, meeting, and loving our child.

FEBRUARY

Nothing really to report from this month except we were literally sick the entire month.  I won't go into detail, but no one was exempt from whatever illness was plaguing our house!

Four more children were placed with their forever family....are noticing a trend??  We're actually moving up on the list!

MARCH
Oh how we are longing for spring days....planting gardens, warm weather, baseball, and just not being stuck inside all the time!  
And with the weather change, there will also be a big change for Jake.  He will be starting a new job this coming Monday!  He will be an Associate Builder with SR Homes and working here in Oconee County in Rowen Oaks neighborhood.  We are so thankful for him having a great job at Washington Farms over these past years and will miss many aspects of "farm life".  But we know this is where the Lord is leading and we are confident in this change.

Nine children were placed with their forever family.....Ok, so you're probably doing the math...
8+4+9=21
That's right!  21 children....21 spots on the waiting list closer to our child!

The reality has really started settling in.  Please be praying for us as we get closer and closer.  That we would be prepared and ready when the time comes....Pray with me that it will be this year!  Y'all are great!  Thanks for keeping up with us on our journey.  Hoping to continue to give great reports!

"And the world is passing away along with its desires,

but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

1 John 2:17

Now for your enjoyment, some recent pictures of the fam.

Lovin' the underwear outside the black pants!

Happy birthday, Asher!

Bob the Builder helping Jake out.

They are getting to be such good friends :)

This child loves to color...the paper and herself.
Look at the detail.

Twins!

Fun toys from Chick-fil-A

Cuban music has been a favorite to dance to lately.
If only Asher would just let Mary Clair dance!

Waiting Doesn't Have to Be a Negative Thing

So I was just thinking...
Why does everyone view waiting as such a terrible thing?  After all, waiting is the part of the process that develops our character!  Over this advent season leading up to Christmas, our church has been blogging about waiting.  I wrote a post for the blog and wanted to share it with you all!
You will find my post here along with a few other great posts.  I hope that it encourages you as you are thinking about and celebrating Christ's birth this Christmas!

"For to us a child is born, 

to us a son is given,

and the government will be upon his shoulders, 

and his name will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace."

Isaiah 9:6

Merry Christmas!

Waiting Just Got a *Little Easier...for now at least...

My name is Asher Parham and I approve this message.

It's amazing how when we trust the Lord with all our hearts, He gives us little reminders that He hears us and loves us.  We had a little reminder of His gracious sovereignty at the beginning of this week...
So as you know, we've been on a long waiting list hoping each month that we would be one step closer to bringing home our child.  Well, things have not turned out so much the way we thought they would (things never do!).  Despite our wondering what was going on and asking God what we should do, we were trusting in Him to lead the way.
This Monday we got our monthly email from our agency and we moved up 8 spots on the waiting list!!  My first thought as Jake yelled the news to me from another room was, "That's great...but was it because 8 families moved to a different program/country???"  And thankfully that wasn't the case!  Eight children were placed with families...I just get so excited thinking about how thrilled those families are to finally be one step closer to meeting, knowing and loving a new member of their family.  And I know we'll be there one day too!

Now next month we may not move any spots.  This is still a hit or miss kind of thing.  So keep us in your prayers as we wait!

And just for fun, here are some cute pictures of lately around here:

Asher is all about some thumbs up

That face...

Thanksgiving wouldn't be Thanksgiving without a night time hot tub hang out with these guys!

Cousins (well, third cousins)

My babies are growing up so fast!

Asher on what he called "a pile of rubble".  (How does he know all these random words??)

Poor thing.  First smile out of her in numerous days...teething is no fun!

Annual tradition: Jake holding the tree over his head in victory!

She quickly changed her tune once she saw that candy cane.

...Who are you again?

Santa's little helper

Just checking to see if the lights work...they always like to help.

Reasons to Be Thankful

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, 

give thanks in all circumstances; 

for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."  

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I received a phone call from our case worker the other day (which by the way, if you are looking for an awesome, God-honoring, caring, and encouraging agency to adopt through, I would suggest Lifeline Children's Services) and as we talked about the current situation in our adoption process I thought, "This is a great moment to be thankful, prayerful and trust in God's timing and will."  Which led me to the verses above.
Well, let me back up and fill you in on what's going on in the process...Basically, the long and short of it is that slow is the new normal.  With where we are on the waiting list (which is still very high) and the average of how many kids that have been placed in the past year (which is pretty low), it could be approximately 7 years.  (Insert everyone freaking out and making funny faces, jaw dropping, etc).  There is no need to worry though.  We are taking all of these facts in stride and trusting in the Lord's timing on things.
We would ask you to continue praying for us!  We are praying about what the next step for our family will look like.  In other words, we are praying about changing countries or possibly adopting domestically.  We have a strong desire to have a child join our family through adoption and we also would like to have more bio-babies (a term our adoption group uses in reference to biological kids :)).  So as a result we feel that we are on a crunched timeline.

Something tells me that this is not the end of the road for having kids joining our family.  And let me tell you, once you say "yes" to whatever the Lord is calling you to, you are in for a wild ride.  We've said "yes" and are seeing all kinds of possibilities on this journey.

With all the craziness of life, I'd like to share a few reasons to be thankful.  These are on my personal list this week, but you can add them to your's as well!  There really are a lot of reasons to be thankful.

Reasons to be thankful:
1. It's God's will!  No matter what this world will throw at us, God says we are to be thankful.  For those who are Christ followers, our lives should overflow with thanksgiving resulting in God receiving glory and people who don't Christ coming to believe in Him.
2. We have all of you supporting us!  What an interesting journey to find ourselves on and knowing that all of you are praying for us, supporting us through your encouragement, and giving so generously to help make this adoption happen at all makes this learning process so much more enjoyable!  Please don't stop asking questions about the process even though it's slow.  We love to hear from you and like to give reports (and one day look forward to the big news that we are going to get our child).
3. We are experiencing growth spiritually through this process.  I journal and I love to look back and see how far I've come and all that has been learned along the way.  This adventure is one that I am not going to regret going on and pray that we continue to know God more through it.

We hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

"Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

for his steadfast love endures forever!"

Psalm 118:1

One Year

It's been one year since we first were placed on the waiting list.
We were so excited as we moved down little by little over the next few months.

Then there was a dry spell.

Months went by with no children being placed and us waiting longer and longer to bring our child home.

Sometimes I wonder why this process has to be so long.
Sometimes I wonder if it will ever end.
Sometimes I want to give up.

We have moved up 45 places since we were put on the waiting list and still have a long way to go.  Every month we eagerly await the news on our progress and it's so hard to open the email only to find not much progress has been made.

And when Asher makes a paper airplane and is ever so cutely flying it around then exclaims with a big smile, "This is the plane we are going to fly in to get my little brother!", my heart melts.  It melts with thankfulness that our son is excited about having a new brother (or sister...but he says it's a boy and his name is Rizo...Rizo??  Don't ask...).  It also melts with urgency--our child is somewhere out there and I'm ready to welcome them home!

I tell you all of this not to be dramatic or complain, but to ask you to pray for us.  We need wisdom, endurance, patience, joy, hope...

I read a blog of ours from this time last year.  I was so hopeful!  I was keeping an eternal perspective. I'm asking for you all to encourage us in this heavenly perspective and pursuit!  You all have been so great through this journey thus far.  Remind us to keep our heads up and seek God's will.  We love you all and are thankful for you.

"I press on towards the goal to win the prize 

for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus...  

But our citizenship is in heaven. 

And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 

who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, 

will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body."

Philippians 3:14, 20-21

Happy July

Today, both kids are napping.  So what does that mean?  You all get an update!!  (ha ha ha)
It's amazing what you can do with a couple hours of undisturbed time....

So it's July which means we just received our monthly update.  We are praising the Lord that TWO children were placed with families this month!  In the moment of frustration when I say, "I want my child to be home with us!", I must remind myself that there are plenty of children that need families and they just happen to get to meet their family first.

So we wait.

In keeping with good news of children being placed with their families, our friends, the Fitzes, just left for Ethiopia for their long awaited journey to pick up their sweet baby girl!  It's so neat to see God calling people to adopt and watching everything unfold.  Pray for them as they are there with their two boys (3 1/2 years and almost 2 years old) and will be living in Ethiopia for the next month waiting on the last bit of paperwork to be processed.

I hope that you have a great Independence Day weekend!

Lifesong Grant Update

A little over a month ago I blogged about a matching grant through Lifesong for Orphans.  With it being a busy time of the year for us and Mary Clair's first birthday just around the corner, we settled for just doing a blog and emailing a few people instead of writing 100 letters and such.  Well, I have to admit, I was wondering if we'd be able to raise the $2,000 by the deadline.  There was about a week left and I checked our account only to see that there was $0 in our account.  So my natural reaction was to worry that we wouldn't get it all by the date...
But boy was I wrong!
As always, in God's timing and because He is faithful, the amount was raised!  In fact, we exceeded the amount!  So our total, including the matching $2,000, comes out to be $5,387.97!!!
We are blown away and so grateful for all the help that you, our friends and family, have been in making this adoption possible.  And I'm hoping you are just as generous with your prayers and will be just as supportive emotionally and spiritually on the flip side once our child is home.  God is so good to us.  Thank you all and thank you Lord!


In other news, we were able to get away over the weekend for a fun day at Panther Creek!  It does my soul good to get in the woods and be with the ones I love the most!  Asher was a champ and hiked the whole time (except the 25 yards I carried him after he tripped over a rock and hurt himself).  He came home with a bag of "treasures" (to which Jake says, "You are your mother's child."  To which I say, "Who doesn't love some rocks and pinecones?!?")  Mary Clair could not get enough of the creek and thought that she was old enough to forge the polar waters on her own.  We attempted a nap in the hammock but she was too busy watching Asher and Jake walk through the creek longing to be playing with them.  And as predicted, she feel asleep about 100 feet from our van on our way out.
I'm thankful for nature and I'm thankful for my family!

(Be warned...I was only going to pick a few pictures...but I couldn't help myself!  There are just so many good ones to share.  And this is why the world should be thankful I have a dumb phone and don't do instagram...)

He's a good one to follow down any trail!  We love our fearless leader!

Two little hobbits in the woods.

SAFE!

NAture...that's why I come here.

That face.

"Don't worry, I got this."

The fam.

Don't worry Mom, Jake was standing right next to the tree.

It's a miracle!  Everyone is looking and no one fell in the creek!

Of course...

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"But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;

may those who love your salvation say continually,

'Great is the LORD!'"

Psalm 40:16