Evidence of His Grace

"When he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts." Acts 11:23

Thank You, Father, for the grace you rain down on me.

Pics from Christmas Day...

This Christmas was extra special. First time in our new home. A blanket of snow covered everything. An unexpected gift. The gift actually came a little after Christmas because of the snow...it delayed family. Chris' mom had let us know that she had a surprise and that we would like it. We thought it was something she got....a new car, a cat...we just didn't know. Well, it wasn't a car or a cat. When she arrived, she handed us an envelope and told us it was from a friend of her coworker...someone we had never met. Someone she had never met. The friend had heard about us adopting when Ann shared our blog with her coworker, and the friend wanted to help. Inside the envelope was a few hundred dollars! Wow! Chris and I just looked at each other in disbelief, and, of course, I got teary. Whether she knew it or not, whether she's a believer in the Lord Jesus or not, God had used her to bless us! Someone who never met us! This surprise was evidence of God's grace. God's grace is still so amazing to me!

You see, most people who check into international adoption end up not adopting because of the cost. I have to admit that was my first thought...how can we do this? We don't have that much money. Will we ever have it? My mom asked me, "Out of all the adoption stories you have heard, how many have been about someone not going through with it because of money?" I said, "None. It's always how God has provided. How miraculously He has provided." I say all this to encourage those of you who have considered adopting but are concerned about coming up with the money. I've been there, and sometimes I still go there...but not for long because God shows us evidence of His grace. Money is nothing to the Creator.

From our family to yours...

We wish you a...

Merry Christmas!!!

and one just for fun...

"Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavely host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."

May God bless you this Christmas and in the coming year!



Last of the papers!!!

Dropped off the last few papers to our Home Study case worker, Janet, on Monday!!!

Along with those papers were some very special items....
Janet asked Alexandra and Hunter to write a letter or draw a picture about the adoption. Here is what they did....

Hunter, of course, drew pictures.

This is Hunter with his new brother next Christmas. Don't you love the Lego people!!

And now with his new sister...who is apparently going to receive Polly Pockets.

Ali isn't really into drawing, but she does like to write...well, sometimes. :)
This was her letter:

Dear Ms. Jenkins,

     The main reason I'm excited to adopt is because I'll get to tell my little brother and sister about Jesus. I know that sounds like an answer you would hear in Sunday School, but it's the truth. I feel a need to lead little kids to Christ. I also look forward to dressing up and playing with dolls with my little sister and building with wooden blocks with my little brother. Tucking them in at night is one of the biggest things I look forward to. Thanks for helping us during this process.                                                                                               

Can't wait,
Ali Knox

How blessed Chris and I are to have such awesome kids!!!

Home Visit

This past Friday we had the home visit with our social worker, and from all indications it went great! As we go through this process I am learning that there is so much involved with adoption.  It is going to be totally worth it! We have been in fundraising mode and have had some incredible support from our friends and family. I am overwhelmed by the amount of support that we have experienced. There is a whole new list of children that need homes. I am amazed at the amount of children that are out there that need homes, a better quality of life, fresh water, access to food, the basics of life that we completely take for granted.  I am not ashamed of all the blessings that we have, in fact, I am most excited about sharing them with the kids that are going to join the clan.  But I am amazed by the insurmountable need that is out there and motivated to try and help in other ways. It should be interesting what doors open through this and what opportunities are presented to our family.  I know that God has an awesome plan for us, and I can't wait to be a part of it!

A Quick But Successful Fundraiser--Thank you!

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who bought and/or helped to sell 2011 Chick-Fil-A calendars for us. It was a last minute decision to sell them. We picked up a box of 50 two Fridays before Thanksgiving hoping to be able to sell as many of those as we could by Thanksgiving Day, because we had to turn all the $$ into Chick-Fil-A by then. Well, between Friday and Monday all 50 were sold. :) So, Tuesday I got another box. By Friday all 50 were sold.:) So Friday I got another box of 50 and 27 were sold from it. WOW! Thanks everyone! Those of you that got calendars I hope you enjoy that free item that Chick-Fil-A has for you each month!!!!  THANK YOU!

God still speaks to us....

As you know from Chris' last post, China has been chosen! I just wanted to share how....

Chris and I have prayed for months about the country. We were leaning toward Hungary for most of the time but just couldn't commit. Then, in September China opened a special program that interested us. We prayed and nothing seemed clear...both were good choices...both have plenty of children who still need families. (One thing I've learned in this process is that there are so many countries---many, many I've never heard of or can pronounce---who have children needing families. All are good choices.) Well, it was just time to make a decision. You can only go so far in the process without choosing a country.

Chris went on a men's retreat for the weekend with our church and said he would pray and ask the men to pray, also. I would pray and soul search, too, and when he returned we would decide. We had also prayed for like minds upon his return.

That week in my Bible study (Isaiah 7), God had sent Isaiah, His prophet, to King Ahaz of Judah. In His mercy and grace He was going to give unbelieving, unfaithful Ahaz a sign to prove He is God Almighty. Through Isaiah, God told Ahaz to ask Him for a sign....anything....and God would give it to him. Ahaz disobeyed and did not ask God for a sign, saying he wasn't going to "test God." But, he wouldn't have been testing God, because God told him to ask. Throughout that week the study questions talked about signs from God. What was testing and what was not? What I got from this was that if you truly don't know, you're truly seeking God's will and you're willing to do what He says....it's not testing. I thought God was saying to me....ask Me for a sign. So, Saturday night while Chris was at the retreat, I asked God to speak through the preacher the next morning the name of one of the countries in any way. He could talk about being hungry or eating off china plates...just mention the name.

Chris got home Sunday morning as we were leaving for church so we didn't talk about countries. We would wait till we got home. That morning as the preacher was giving a story illustration he mentioned how the US women's soccer team beat the CHINA women's team. Did I hear that right???? Did he just say CHINA??? Yes. I had my answer. No one knew my prayer for a sign. I didn't tell anyone until afterward. When we got home from church, Chris said, "I think China." I said, the pastor spoke "China." Like minds. How good is God!!!

I'm sorry to say that the next day I questioned, "Did God really say that to me or was it coincidence?" But I asked for a sign, and He gave me one....I already had the confirmation from Chris. To ask again would be testing. Sometimes it's just hard to believe that the Creator of the universe, the Lord Almighty, the Holy One would hear from me...one who breaks His heart...one out of so many on this great big planet...But thankfully by His mercy and grace, one who is forgiven and adopted into His family...all by the blood of Christ. God cares for each one of His children.
"And His mercy is on them that fear Him from generation to generation." Luke 1:50
"For this God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death." Psalm 48:14

He is full of mercy and grace, and He still speaks!

Chris and I said this should have been our first sign....

While on vacation in September we jokingly said Hunter was digging a shortcut to China...maybe we should adopt from there??? :)

Heading to China

Looks like we are off to China...well, not right away. we talked to about everyone we could think of...family, friends, other adoptive families and none were able to really steer us in any specific direction.  We knew at the end of the day it was going to be a God thing and outside influences couldn't make the call for us.  We prayed for peace in whatever the decision was, we prayed to be on the same page without trying to influence each other.  Frank, our pastor did ease our minds about it when he told me that we couldn't go wrong any where we went, if we knew we were being led to do this we just need to realize that this is a God thing and a lot of blessing is going to come out of this.  We did our best to come to the conclusion independently we were surprised that we landed on China when we were both pretty sure we were going to Hungary earlier. It may be one the few times that I was quiet enough to actually hear the "still, small voice". The next step is to get our Home Study scheduled, some medical stuff and background checks.  Then, we will be getting started on the fund raising. Talk about a step of faith!