Saturday, May 11, 2013

It's the Climb

We have some good friends who have a daughter that fought cancer 6 years ago.  We were not friends with them while they battled cancer, however, God brought us together over 3 years ago when our boys played on an All Star Baseball Team together.  We realized then, that we had prayed for that precious girl.  Since then, she has turned into the most beautiful young lady inside and out.  Our daughter, Kathryn, looks up to her and thinks she is just amazing!  She has continued to face mountains as a result of her cancer years ago.  Last year, she sang the song, "The Climb" for a Relay for Life video, shown at my kids school.  My kids came home singing the song and Kathryn put it on her ipod to listen to all the time.  Recently, she has faced another mountain.  We listened to the song today on the way home from a baseball tournament.  The conversation all goes to that precious young lady when the song comes on.  Today, I began to really listen to the song and I realized that the lyrics really relate to all Christians and specifically to our lives right now.  We are watching God move mountains, but we are also climbing them.  If you have a moment, please pray for her tonight.  I'm not putting names on here, due to the high traffic volume, but God knows who she is.  We love you sweet girl!!!!  Here are the lyrics:

I can almost see itThat dream I am dreamingBut there's a voice inside my head saying"You'll never reach it"
Every step I'm takingEvery move I make feelsLost with no directionMy faith is shaking
But I gotta keep tryingGotta keep my head held high
There's always gonna be another mountainI'm always gonna wanna make it moveAlways gonna be a uphill battleSometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get thereAin't about what's waiting on the other sideIt's the climb
The struggles I'm facingThe chances I'm takingSometimes might knock me downBut no, I'm not breaking
I may not know itBut these are the moments thatI'm gonna remember most, yeahJust gotta keep going
And I, I got to be strongJust keep pushing on
'Cause there's always gonna be another mountainI'm always gonna wanna make it moveAlways gonna be a uphill battleSometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get thereAin't about what's waiting on the other sideIt's the climb, yeah!
There's always gonna be another mountainI'm always gonna wanna make it moveAlways gonna be an uphill battleSomebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get thereAin't about what's waiting on the other sideIt's the climb, yeah!

Tonight, we are praying.  We are praying over our upcoming move.  We are praying over the sweet girl mentioned.  We are praying for 2 precious little girls.  We are praying for all of you!  We are so thankful for all of the Mom's in our lives.  My Mom, my mother-in-law, my MamMaw, my Aunt Marsha, Aunt Doris, and Aunt Lisa.  All the mother's in our lives that have already gone to Heaven.  All the mom's that have shaped us and made us who we are!  We are especially thankful to a very special Mom.  That Mom is the one who will give us the gift of her child/children.  This is a gift that we could never repay.  Thank you will never suffice.  Tonight, on Mother's Day Eve, I think of the heart of that Mom.  How much she will sacrifice in order to ensure her child/children's safety, protection, love, and comfort.  What length's will we go to as a Mom to make sure our children are taken care of?  We would die for our children.  
How much more so does our Heavenly Father love us!?!  He loves us so much that He died for us!  He laid His own life down so that we might have life!  And that we would have it abundantly!!!  How amazing is this!?!  I stand in awe!  I'm so thankful for my Savior!  I am so thankful that He blessed me with the ability to be a Mommy to not just my birth children but those He will bless us with through adoption.  
In His Grip!Chris and Elizabeth 



Thursday, May 9, 2013

Holding God's hand and walking with Him daily.

God never promised this life would be easy.  He did promise that He would be there with us every single step of the way.  "Is it really that easy?" some have asked me.  "Yes!" I respond.  We must ask that He guide our every step, decision, thought, action.  We must ask Him to bless the decision that we make.  We do our absolute best to make sure that we are doing what He wants us to.  The verse that keeps being brought to mind today is:

Romans 8:28  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."

We believe whole heartedly that God has called us to a purpose.  That purpose being adoption.  In order for Him to fulfill that purpose, certain "earthly" things must happen for our family.  From the beginning (16 months ago), we have given God our "list" of things that had to happen.  As I looked at the list 16 months ago, I thought, "Wow!  Those are HUGE items.  I don't know how God will accomplish these, but I have faith that He will."  Over the course of the following months, He accomplished each one on the list in the order that we wrote them.  (Crazy, huh?  Nope, that's God.)  Here was our list.  I give it to you in hopes that you will see the mountain in front of you for whatever it is that you might be dealing with and realize that if you just hand it over to God, He will take care of it.

1.     Stop keeping kids in my home.  (February 23, 2012- last day keeping sweet Sophie girl-- applied to begin substitute teaching).
2.     April 2012--- began subbing.  Have had an average of 10 calls per month since I began.
3.     Chris a raise---February 8, 2012--- Chris had said (to God) that we needed a big raise.  Normally, he would have gotten a 1.95% raise for cost of living.  But he got a 6% raise!!!!  PTL!!!!  Only God!!!!
4.     New house---We listed our house at the end of February 2013 and HE SOLD it on April 29, 2013!!!!!  Found our new house on May 1!!!!  Closing on May 30!!!!
5.    Both of us newer vehicles.  We don't buy new cars.  So, we will be looking for Chris a new vehicle in a month or 2.  We are looking for a 2000 to 2004 mid size car.  Honda Accord, Toyota Camry or Nissan Altima.  If you have one or know someone who does, let us know.  We will be in the market for one soon.  I will begin looking in about 6 months for me a new van.  We will be looking for a 2006-2008 Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.  Again, if you have or know someone who does, we will be looking.  This is the last part for God to complete.

There has been much prayer over this entire process.  God has proven to us that with faith, ALL things are possible.  He has shown us that mountains move daily and in the past few days, He has shown us that they move on a minute by minute basis.  WOW!  We are so encouraged every day by the stories from God's people that He continues to place in our paths.  Just today, I called the insurance agency that we are using for the homeowners insurance on the new house.  I called to see if the quote was ready.  I had talked to the lady the other day, but today, through a series of questions, I ended up sharing that we were adopting.  She and her husband had adopted too!!!  Twice...once internationally and once domestically.  Even better, she knew the family we were buying the house from.  Is God amazing or what!!!???!!!  This journey just gets better and better.

How can you pray today?
1.   Please pray that everything will continue to go well.  Our inspection on our house was yesterday and the inspector found a couple of things that we need to fix.  Please pray that it will all go smoothly.  The inspection on the new house was today and the inspector found a few things.  Please pray that all of that will go well too.  Please pray for the loan process to continue to run smoothly.
2.    We are filling out the application for School Choice for both our youngest and middle children.  Please pray that those will both be accepted.
3.     I have completed my portion of our adoption application.  Please pray that Chris will be able to complete his quickly.  AND that I would be patient with him.  Now that I've completed my portion, I kind of want him to hurry up.  BUT, it is all in His time, not ours.
4.     Please pray for me as the school year wraps up and everything winds down.  And pray for us as we pack up.  Lots of memories have been made in this house but the house holds lots of memories from before we moved in.  Chris' Granny lived in the house before us.  The first Summer we lived in the house, we returned from our vacation and as we walked in the door, Benjamin said, "Oh wow, I smell Granny."  We all cried.  The house has always helped us in the process of saying goodbye to Granny.  We have felt her here with us.  As much as we are excited to begin a new chapter in a new house, we will all be sad to leave this home that holds so much for us.
5.     Please pray for a smooth transition.  As I type, we have only 21 days until closing.

Thank you for all that you do for us.  The support and love are overwhelming.  Until next update.

In His Grip,
Chris and Elizabeth

Monday, May 6, 2013

I've got Peace Like a River

If you live in the Upstate of South Carolina, you know that here in the last few days, the rivers around here have not exactly been peaceful.  They have reached their capacity and some have even risen past their edges and flooded areas.  This is very much like the peace that I am feeling right now.  I have a peace that only comes from our Heavenly Father.  It is a peace that comes from His proven love time and time again.  That peace, however, can sometime be pushed to the limits.

This week is a very big week.  We have a contract on our house and a contract on our new house.  We have a closing date of May 30.  We have 2 huge prayer requests for this week.  Both houses will be inspected this week.  Our house on Wednesday at 1:30 and the new house on Thursday.  I am asking that everyone pray specifically for the one on Wednesday.  If you can stop on Tuesday evening at 9 pm and whisper a prayer over our house and the inspector, we would be much appreciative.  We know that it is all in God's hands and He already knows what all is coming and all the details.  Please pray for a peace to wash over us.  We have done all that we can humanly possibly do.  After this, we just have the finalizing of the loan documents and the completion of the closing.  Oh, and did I mention packing?

This is also a big week in our family life.  Benjamin's birthday is tomorrow and Kathryn's is on Wednesday.  In the next 3 weeks we have a field trip, a PTO event, 2 Baseball tournaments, Mother's Day, Benjamin's graduation, Kathryn's awards day, family in town, the end of my school year, etc.  There is a lot that needs to happen and somewhere in there, I've got to pack the whole house and be ready to move.  Whew!  Sometimes, I wish I could go to sleep and wake up in the new house.  Oh, well, then I'd miss all the fun in the process.

So, please just PUSH!!!  P-pray U-until S-something H-happens!!!!!  God is good all the time and ALL the time, God is good!  He is faithful and full of mercy and grace.  We are believing that He is moving this mountain out of the way and the next mountain will be the paperwork and training.  (Those are small compared to this!)

Thank you all so much for your love and support.  Thank you for your prayers!  Thank you for your words of encouragement.  They mean so much to us!

In His Grip,
Chris and Elizabeth

Thursday, May 2, 2013

What a beautiful tapestry that God is weaving for us?!?

Today, I posted on my FB page this post:

The way that God weaves our lives is an amazing and beautiful tapestry. The lives touched by those around you may be unknown to you. I know where my peace lies and it is in Christ Jesus. Do you have a peace? During the storm you are in right now, cry out persistently to the Lord. He is waiting on you to ask for His help.

The reason that I posted that today was because God has literally BLOWN my mind and the easiest way to wrap my brain around this whole process is to look at our lives and the lives all around us as a tapestry that God is weaving.  Each life is a strand.  I am going to begin by giving you the amazingly wonderful news!  We have a contract on a house!!!!!  This week, from Monday to today, we have gone from homeowners, to homeless, to having a home to go to.  It has been an awesome ride!  We are so thankful and praising God for His amazing blessing.  We, in our own power could not have organized (even though I will say it is one of my strong suits) this super intricate event.

Now, I want to give you just a glimpse into what some may call "coincidences".  To Chris and I, it is no coincidence.  It is God!  I'm going to try, without using names, etc. because this blog reaches so many people, to create the picture.

On Monday evening, we had an offer on our house.  After going back and forth, we agreed.  On Tuesday, I was a little panicked (LOL!  If you spoke to me that day, you know I was a LOT panicked).  There were no longer any houses in the area that we were looking that were in our price range that we liked.  We looked at a foreclosure but it had basically been destroyed and while it was an amazing price for the square footage; we would have had to have put a ton of money into it.  So, it was a "no".  Tuesday evening, we broadened our search area just a bit.  Once we did that, 3 more potential houses were showing.  Of the 3, we picked 1.  It was still farther away than what we wanted.  But that was ok.  We were allowing God to guide us instead of limiting Him to what we wanted.  (Very difficult to do.  Much easier to say.  But so worth it.)  We scheduled with our amazing Realtor to see it on Thursday at 4:30.  I wrote the address down on a notepad by my computer.  On Wednesday morning, I arrived at work and during the morning, was given a paper for one of my students that needed to have the address, phone number, parents' names, etc filled in on.  I wrote the address down and about had a heart attack.  This was the exact same address that I had written down the night before.  At the time, I didn't know that this family was moving.  Not the same street, or area.  The exact same address!!!  People, I can't make this stuff up!  So, I took a deep breath.  Looked the address up online to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.  Sure enough.  Same house.  WOW! The huge part was, I knew that the couple living in that house, had adopted.  Not just one child but multiple children.  Are you kidding me?!?  Seriously God.  So much was running through my mind and heart at that point.  I called our Realtor and asked if we could possibly move up the time to see it exactly 24 hours to that day, Wednesday.  After a phone call, we were set to see the house.  We walked through the house and felt an overwhelming feeling that we had come home.  It was perfect.  It was exactly what we needed.  I felt a connection to the family who had occupied that house and I had never even really met any of them except the sweet child in my class.  We made an offer on the house that night.

Skip away from the new house for a moment and go back to the old house with me.  Wednesday evening I got a call from a friend at work.  She went to high school with Chris and me.  She said, you will never believe this.  The guy buying your house is one of my best friends.  Through a series of conversations with him, she figured out that he was buying not just any house, but our house.  WOW!!!  Again, amazing.  This precious man has been prayed for!  We are so thrilled for him to have our house.  We are so blessed that he chose our house.  Little did he know, He was all part of God's amazing tapestry.

Now, back to the new house.  After going back and forth for only a short time, we arrived on an agreement.  The house will be ours.  This evening, I got a FB message and friend request from the Momma of the family of the house we are buying.  Through correspondence on FB, I have realized that we are way more alike that we know.  I believe that through this process, God has given us another set of friends that we can gain knowledge and understanding from about this adoption journey and just life in general.  They share the same faith as we do.  They share the same passion as we do.  And now, we are linked together in God's amazing tapestry through a house.

Like I said, what a beautiful tapestry that God is weaving just for us.  We are immensely blessed.  We do not deserve this.  We are definitely not worthy of a house like this.  But, when we get right down to it.  We are not worthy of anything, but Jesus paid our debt.  We wiped us clean.  You don't have to clean up your life to give it over to Him.  You give it over to Him and He cleans you up!  Two years ago, I would never have believed where we are right now.  One year ago, I trusted that God would make a way and move huge mountains to reach His goal, but had no idea how it would be accomplished.  Four months ago, we surrendered to His complete will for our lives and allowed Him to guide us.  We have not been without fail.  We have messed up.  We have strayed.  We have tried to run the show at times.  But each time, God has lovingly guided us back to where He wanted us to be, and been oh, so patient with us.  Somehow, being in God's truck riding this journey called life is the scariest, most peaceful place to be.  Some days, I think, "Are we really doing this?"  And then I look around and see blessing after blessing.  Yes, we are really doing this and we couldn't be more excited and ready.

How can you pray specifically for us today and in the days to come?
1.  Please pray that everything with the sale of our house (inpsections, detitling, etc) goes without a hitch.  Or, if there are hitches, we would take them in stride, without panic and know that it is all part of God's plan.
2.  Pray that the sale of the house we are moving to goes as planned.  Also, please pray for the timing of it all.  We are set to close, as of right now, on the 30th of May.  That is a Thursday and we would need to be completely out of our current house that day.  Please pray for details of the move to be smooth.
3.  Please pray specifically for our sweet Kathryn.  She doesn't like change.  She is very excited about a new house, new kiddos arriving, etc.  But not so much a new school.  Please pray for wisdom on our parts through that.  We have school choice here, so it's not a mandate that she go to a new school.
4.  Continue to pray that we can somehow continue to work on paperwork for the adoption through this process of moving.
5.  Please pray for a specific request that we need answered soon.  I can't go into details, but God knows the details.  It is not a life or death issue.  Just a need that we need answered so that we can move on.

Thank you so much!  I know this update was long.  I promise they won't all be this long.  I hope that you had a glimpse of what we are seeing right now on a daily basis.  God's hand, guiding our every move.

In His Grip,
Chris and Elizabeth