Anna's Birthday Wish

The day before my sister's birthday we received our referral for our daughter. Ryan and I decided to wait until the next day to tell our family since we would all be together for Anna's birthday dinner. After Anna opened all her gifts we handed her a birthday card from us...

Inside we included a picture of Nara...Under her picture we wrote "Guess who's turning 3 tomorrow? Meet your new niece who will soon be a part of our family!!!!"

Their reaction was priceless....

Hate the picture ended up being blurry but I think Ryan was crying too and couldn't hold the camera steady. After Anna finally could catch her breath she told us that her birthday wish had been for us to receive a referral. The day before (when we received our referral call) she blew out the candles on her cake from friends at school and made her wish. She wished again the night of her birthday while we were at dinner. Anna was so happy that God granted her 18th birthday wish and that she and Nara share birthdays one day apart! 

We are still waiting to be submitted to court. There were a few documents that needed to be updated since we have waited so long. Our agency encouraged us last week to go ahead and start working on them so we will be ready when they call us for court. We are almost finished with the updates already! Two weeks ago our dear friends Carmen & Trent went and visited Nara in our agency's transition home in Ethiopia. They put our sweet girl on the phone so we could talk to her! Absolutely priceless to hear her say mommy and daddy on the other end! We are so excited but I have to say this part of the wait has been hard on me in particular. Now that we know who she is and have heard her sweet voice I am wanting so badly to bring her home more now than ever! I am so thankful she is in our agency's transition home now where she is being taken good care of. The support, gifts and encouragement from all our friends and family has been overwhelming! We are so thankful for your continued prayers!  

Our Referral Day!!!

Wednesday started out just like any other normal day at work. I was in the middle of a haircut when my phone rang. Picking it up I saw AWAA on my caller ID. My heart began beating so fast. I just stared at my phone for a few seconds trying to comprehend if this was really happening. Could this really be the call we've been waiting on for so long!? I answered. "Hi Courtney, this is America World and I have Ryan on the other line. "This is your referral call." OMG! I think I was completely in shock and totally caught off guard. I felt like I could hardly breathe and you guessed it...Ryan was trying not to cry on the other line. Our family coordinator, began telling us about our daughter and some other info about paperwork etc. She also told us she would immediately email us our daughters file. She was talking so fast, or maybe it was just me hardly being able to contain myself, that I cannot remember half of what she said. I just couldn't wait for the email with pictures! It just so happened that I had a break in the middle of my work day so Ryan & I immediately rushed home so we could open her file together. I thought Ryan would never get home! That was the longest 30 min. wait ever!  Words cannot describe the feeling I had when we opened that email and finally saw her sweet face. The face we have longed to see for so long. Our daughter whom we have prayed over for more than two years now. Nara is a beautiful three year old little girl with big brown eyes (just like the Barbee's).  She has an adorable smile and a petite frame. We have decided to name her Nara. I keep finding myself staring at her picture that we now have framed in our house. So what comes next? Well...we wait lol! It usually takes anywhere from 6-12 weeks for a family to be assigned a court date. We will then fly over to Ethiopia where we will meet Nara and appear in court before a judge to state that we will love and care for her. We are hoping this will happen soon but at the same time we know that you never can tell. We are very blessed to have a great agency who has been very helpful during this time of waiting. We have also heard wonderful things from other adoptive families about the transition home where Nara is now. This makes me rest much easier knowing that she is being well taken care of. On December 1st, 2011 Nara was brought to the orphanage. Because our acceptance papers arrived at AWAA yesterday they were able to tell Nara today, exactly one year later, that she now has a family on the way! This brings tears to my eyes as I write this because I know without a doubt that God has been at work throughout this entire process even on our darkest days. Back in August I prayed so hard that we would get a referral by Ryan's birthday. When we didn't I was very discouraged. When we looked through Nara's file this week we saw that her physical & medical assessment was done on Ryan's birthday August 10, 2012. We may not have gotten a referral that day but God was at work getting her one step closer to being a part of our family. This has been a long process with lots of ups and downs, good days and bad days but she is so worth the wait!!!! Nara, we are on our way!!!!

It's Closer Than You Think

Last week seemed to be extra tough for some reason. I felt defeated and so discouraged and then as I was trying to stay afloat I came across a list of friends and family we plan to call when we receive a referral. I wrote that list over a year ago. Finding that list pretty much did me in. The enemy was really beating me up and filling my head with doubt. Friday also marked the start of 24 months on the waiting list for a referral of our sweet girl. I posted all this on facebook asking for prayer because I was trying so hard to not let it steal my joy. The response was overwhelming. Encouragement from so many precious ladies began filling my comment feed and blessed me so much!!!! By the end of the night I felt hope and peace. I haven't really complained at all over social media during this whole process and have tried to keep most of my discouraging days to myself. I realized last week that we are not meant to carry burdens alone and we need each other! It felt so good to just be real and say hey I'm not strong enough to do this on my own and I need some prayer. Thank you all so much! 

I want to share a devotional that my dear friend Sandy Burr shared with me on Thursday.

"Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded." Hebrews 10:35

Have you been praying and believing for something that seems like it’s taking a lot longer than you thought? Many times, people can miss God’s best simply because they give up   before they see their “due season” come. Don’t let that be you! Be encouraged today, your answer is closer than you think. If it seems like things are getting more difficult, remember, when the intensity heats up, that means you are closer to your victory. It’s always darkest just before the dawn arrives.

You serve a faithful God, and He’s working behind the scenes on your behalf. Don’t cast away your confidence today because your reward is coming. And just like a new mother   forgets about her labor pain when she is finally holding her newborn, you’ll forget about your struggle when you are holding on to your promise.

While you are waiting, keep an attitude of faith and expectancy. Wake up every morning and say out loud,  “I’ve come too far to give up now. My due season is coming. I will reap my harvest.” Stay in faith and look for His hand of blessing because He has promised you victory, and it’s closer than you think! - Joel Osteen

I know this was for me! I hope it will encourage you too! Don't give up! Do not forget in the dark what God has promised you in the light!!! 

Running With Patience

Running "with patience" is a hard thing to do. You would assume that the very word "running" would mean the absence of patience. We often think of patience as being still. But maybe true patience means to not run from the hardship but to run with endurance toward Christ. Because it's in the process that we are being made the most. "Don't run from tests and hardships, brothers and sisters. As difficult as they are, you will ultimately find joy in them; if you embrace them, your faith will blossom under pressure and teach you true patience as you endure. And true patience brought on by endurance will equip you to complete the long journey and cross the finish line - mature, complete, and wanting nothing." James 1:2-4

The past two years have been some of the most challenging I have ever faced. I don't understand God's plan but I know that He has one. I read something today by Christine Cain that really hit me. "Be faithful with what God puts in your hand until God gives you what's in your heart." God knows what's in my heart and what I long for. But He keeps reminding me that He is shaping me, molding me and making me. He also wants me to be faithful today with what He's placed in front of me. My desire is to be more like Him and I have SO far to go. Through all this waiting and feeling so out of control has forced me to depend on Him like I never have before. Are you going through a trial? Praying for something that still hasn't been answered? I think we all have times in our life where we feel confused. Maybe even abandoned. But when I read God's word and spend time with Him he continues to remind me that HE IS FOR ME and nothing is ever in vain. No tear is ever wasted. It's all about the journey, I am being MADE. 

Scripture Scraps

A few months ago I found this really awesome project on Pinterest. It's a Smash Book turned Scripture book. Love it! So I decided to make one for my daughter. I am filling the book with verses that I can already begin praying over her. But I absolutely cannot wait until we can read it together! Kids can absorb so much at a young age so why not plant seeds of faith in her heart from the start, right?!

I plan to put a picture of our sweet girl in the pocket :)

Rise during the night and cry out. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord. Lift up your hands to Him in prayer, pleading for your children. 

Lamentations 2:19

Great book on praying for your kiddos. 

Sermon on the Arm #1...."The Ship"

First off, I'd like to clarify that this post is in no way, shape, or form an attempt to justify my tattoos. To be honest, I don't feel the need to justify them. What I am going to do is explain the meaning of each portion of my tattoo in a series of blog posts. This is the reason behind my recent full sleeve tattoo adventure in the first place...to point to Christ. I can't tell you how many complete strangers I've had ask me about my tattoos and what they mean. One word of advice, if you're going to have Scripture tattooed on your body...please know the verses word-for-word because you WILL be asked! And hey, the more people that ask me about them the better.

The first piece of my sleeve tattoo that I'm going to dive into is "The Ship". Anyone that knows me well enough, knows that I have an affinity for anything nautical or pirate related. (Yes, I am a complete Pirates of the Caribbean nerd). Who wouldn't want to be a pirate? Ok, I'm not saying I want to partake in the lying, stealing, cheating, pillaging, and plundering that normally comes to mind when thinking of pirates. However, I am deeply intrigued with the adventure of sailing the world, the freedom to make port wherever you so desire, and journeying into uncharted waters. The key words here are journey, freedom, and adventure...words that followers of Christ, sadly, rarely associate with their faith. We are not called to a mundane existence as followers of Christ, to be labeled as watered-down, stick-in-the-mud, pew dwellers! We are vessels, carrying the good news of the Gospel, called to great adventures while carrying out the will of God! With that being said, lets dive into "The Ship" tattoo. 

As you can see, the tattoo is of a "pirate-ish" ship on stormy seas and the Scripture that goes along with it is on a banner that reads, "Acts 27:15". Acts 27:15 reads, "The ship was caught by the storm and could not sail against the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along by it" (NIV). This verse precedes the shipwreck of Paul while he was being transferred on a ship as a prisoner to Rome. At first glance, the verse is not vividly profound or does it really even speak or teach towards how we should live out our faith. However, those that know me, know that I like to look deeper into Scripture. I'm often amazed at at all the symbolism that can be found in God's Word if we look at it through a biblical lens and let God speak to us through what we see on the pages of the Bible. When I look at this Scripture, I see tons of symbolism. 

For the the fun of it, reread the Scripture and substitute "your name" for "The ship" and "we". Also, substitute "Holy Spirit" for "wind". Was that confusing? Ok, here's what mine would look like:

"Ryan was caught by the storm and could not sail against The Holy Spirit; so Ryan gave way to it and was driven along by it."

When I look at this passage, I see the storm as any hardship that may come up in life...confusion, divorce, heartbreak, death, loss of a job...the list goes on and on. I think its no coincidence that one of the symbols of The Holy Spirit in the Bible is the wind. Sometimes even in the midst of our storms, we still try to paddle against what The Spirit would have us do. Until we give way to The Spirit and let it drive us along, we're headed for shipwreck! If we are trying to discover our God-intended direction, we must let His Spirit drive our ship. A ship is also known as a vessel, which can carry all sorts of things. As Christians, we are also vessels. We don't carry cargo, but we carry the Gospel of Christ! We are called to carry this message to the ends of the earth and to every port our vessel docks in.

I think everyone struggles with "hearing The Spirit" and "being led by The Spirit". I think we struggle because in order to allow The Spirit to guide/lead us, we have to die to our own desires. Giving way to The Spirit to lead our lives is not easy...but I guarantee it will lead you on a path of God-filled adventure and journeys! 

"Yo Ho, Yo Ho...Its a pirate's life for me...."

Written by Ryan Thomas

Tattoos by Jason "Nug" Smith @ Next Generation Tattoos in Locust

Back To The Books

Last week Ryan started on his second year of online classes through Liberty University after taking a little break over the Summer. He is working on getting his BA in Religion with a minor in Intercultural Studies. So proud of his hard work and dedication while balancing both full time work & school. It's exciting to see how God is already using what Ryan is learning through Liberty with our high school small group. We have been meeting most Tuesday nights in our home for about a year now. Our lives have been so blessed by the students that come each week and it encourages me in my own walk. Many of our high school students in our group graduated this year and are journeying into a new and exciting phase of life. For some college, others career. Too many churches lose their youth once they move on to the college season of life and we refuse to see that happen. Next Saturday we are starting a college/career small group called "Shift" and hope to potentially guide and just do life with these 20 somethings. These years in a young adults life are key in forming their identity, world view and theology. As Chuck Bomar put it..."You're not seeking to grow a ministry-you're looking to develop a sustainable culture in which college-age people feel loved and a part of the church as a whole." As much as I have hated that this adoption has taken so long I can also see how God has still been faithful and has given us new opportunities to jump in and serve. Had we gotten a referral a long time ago we wouldn't have had the chance to be so blessed by sharing life with high schoolers and now college age. Thanks to all of you who have supported and encouraged us along the way! 

Summer Bday Celebrations!

It's been a busy end of Summer with lots of celebrations! Allison turned 16 on July 30th. We spent the day doing her favorite thing...shopping! Allison's middle name is Joy which totally fits! She is such a joy to our family and is always full of laughter.

Allison and Amy are exactly 2 years and 1 day apart so on July 31st we celebrated Amy's 14th Birthday. She is growing up so fast and starts HIGH SCHOOL on Monday!!!! Little Amy's a Freshman! When did that happen?! 

Amy loved her stand up Beiber card!

The Courage To Stand Still

"Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do before your eyes! 

1 Samuel 12:16

Saw this verse this morning on Facebook that a friend had posted. Some days it is hard to wait on something expectantly when you've been waiting for so long. However this verse reminds me that God's got this. He goes before me and is working out all the details in advance. My job is to pray through and trust Him. The past two years have grown me in ways I never thought possible. Still have a long way to go but I am thankful for this time because it has stretched me and caused me to have to put my trust ONLY in my Father. I've also been thinking about my girl a lot lately and pray for her safety and to feel loved. Verse for today on my bible app was 2 Samuel 7:28-29 "And now, Master God, being the God you are, speaking sure words as you do, and having just said this wonderful thing to me, please, just one more thing: Bless my family; keep your eye on them always. You've already as much as said that you would, Master God! Oh, may your blessing be on my family permanently!" Love this...so thankful that He's got His eye on her. So as I wait to lay my eyes on her for the first time I can stand still, cause He's got this! 

Small Group. Big Purpose....Here's Your Proof

Remember last September when mine and Ryan's student small group from Mission @ Stanfield sponsored a charity:water walk? You gave money for a drilling rig and here's your proof. You helped us raise $4,075 to purchase a drilling rig that can drill 80 wells and give water to 40,000 people every year!!!!! And just guess where they're drilling right now....Ethiopia! (see pics/video below) Thank you for your support!

 Walking 5 miles carrying jugs of water

They all made t-shirts with some of the statistics concerning unclean water across the globe and wore them to school the week before the walk to raise awareness.

Small Group.Big Purpose....You have no idea how proud of am of these students! Clean water changes lives! 

Here is a picture of the first well being dug. Love it!!! Thanks again for your generosity!

On Lake Time

Making Memories! Thank you Mckinney's for sharing your boat and hanging out with our crazy bunch!

Tomorrow we will be returning back to reality after spending last week at Lake Wiley with our family. This was my view from the porch each morning while drinking my coffee. Isn't it so peaceful? Just what Ryan and I needed. A time to relax, read a book, go for a dip and just be present. Our lives can be so hectic sometimes and we feel so blessed that we were able to spend an entire week enjoying quality time with family and friends.

They say laughter is the best medicine and this week was full of it!

Love sharing life with this man!

Two Years

So everyone always wants to know if we've heard anything. Well, yes and no. We have been keeping up with our agency's unofficial list and last month (June) there we're approximatley 14 referrals! Usually it's only around 4-5 per month. We also have conference calls once a month for all families to listen in on. We email our AWAA family cordinator Elise anytime we have a question. She has been great through the whole process. But basically we won't hear anything specifically on our case until we "hear something." We have anxiously been awaiting "THE CALL."The heart attack inducing AWAA on caller ID where Elise will tell us we have a referral! Then we will get on the computer and be introduced to our child with the highly anticipated email file and pictures! Some days are such a struggle. I try to put it out of my mind but you really just can't.  What an emotional roller coaster this has been! This past Sunday was two years since we mailed off our application! Never dreamed it would take this long. Adoption is very dear to my heart and I have tried to always maintain a positive attitude when asked about how the process is going. Somedays are easy. Most days lately are hard. REALLY hard! As a pastor/friend said last week. "Adoption Is WAR." It is a spiritual battle for the hearts and futures of kids everywhere. It is a fight for those who can't speak for themselves. A picture of salvation that the enemy wants to destroy."  The wait hasn't been easy but it is so worth it. Worth every emotion and every penny spent. Worth every test, because SHE is worth it. "May my test today be my testimony for tomorrow."  I also believe that God hasn't wasted this time. He has grown me in ways I never would have and I am slowly but surely learning to be still in His presence. He loves us more than we will ever know and He is fighting for us.....

Her room!

Just thought I'd share what I've been working on this week. Just a few updates to her room to make it more toddler friendly. Thank goodness for Ikea and Etsy :) My sister Allison has already said she can't wait to come over and play tea party lol. I'm still working on a Pinterest project to go on one of the walls. More of that coming soon :)