For the Prayer Warriors -

Warning: Vulnerable Blog Post Ahead...

I'll get straight to the point.   The closer we get to May, the more the Enemy brings challenges to us - trying to make us believe there's no way we can do 4 kids.  Although this doesn't surprise me, it sure is getting tiring. 

One more setback with the van.

One more rough night with the girls.

One more thing on the calendar that's unavoidable.

One more hiccup with childcare.

This week, Dan was at a conference for work for 4 days, and I came down with the pink eye bug the day before he left.  The good news - we made it!  Kate was especially kind and sweet this week, the girls slept *relatively* well at night, and daddy is back now.  The bad news - I missed two days of work, I'm still miserable, and now Chloe's got it.  These are the moments I wonder - well, DOUBT -  if we will ever be healthy, well-rested, and "normal" again.  What would I have done this past week with FOUR kids?  (There it is.  That's the doubting question I KNOW the Enemy wants me to ask.  I confess the doubt I have in that moment, and lean on knowing the real answer - even with four kids, the Lord would provide and sustain me!  That's what He DOES!)

Would you pray for these little attacks to stop?  Would you pray for health, strength, and energy?  Would you pray for great attitudes?  Would you pray we overcome this season?  Thank you for claiming Jesus' promises with us this week!


Things to rejoice over today:
- Daddy and girls next to me on the couch giggling away while making animal sounds - so cute!
- The sunshine!  There's been lots of park visits this week. (How do people buried in snow do it?)
- The fixed garage door thanks to the handy hubby!  I've really, really enjoyed having the garage back.
- An improving bed time routine!  Although it still takes Chloe a while to settle down now, she's not getting out of bed anymore after I tuck her in.  (Hey, friends - I'm gonna celebrate every little step forward today!)
- A GREAT small group.  I'm really looking forward to girls night tonight!
- My voice is a bit better today - I'm out of the whisper-only zone.

(Thankful lists are fun - I could go on and on!  But for the sake of a short blog post and getting in on the giggling action happening to the right of me, I'll stop.  The end.)  :)

Bunk Beds -

God is good - all the time!

Last week, about an hour after my post, I got a text.  "We have a bunk bed you're welcome to have if you want it."  That's right, folks - there's a white bunk bed in great condition in our boys' room thanks to the Vana family!  (I will post a pic later...I'm so sick right now I can hardly type.  Is it me, or has this sick season been out of control this year?  I digress...)

I start off with a praise that the Lord has provided once again because tonight I share the promise we are claiming through this process found throughout scripture...

"Is anything too hard for the Lord?"

We are keenly aware of the horror stories out there about foster kids.  Between the training we received at Serenity and others who have shared oh-so-willingly about their friend who's sister fostered (etc, etc.), we know the risk we are taking to bring in two little boys who have probably experienced a good deal of trauma their first few years, and the effects that might have on our family.  We are also keenly aware that to foster-adopt means the first set of boys who are placed with us might not stay very long.  We are keenly aware the stage our girls are in right now - picking up words and habits that have to be corrected daily.  But the Lord asks us to do hard things for His Kingdom...taking in orphans, giving them a home, loving them and teaching them about Jesus, molding them into who Christ intends for them to be...this will be worth it.

I don't say that naively - there will be battles over discipline, food, bed times, and language - things so deeply ingrained in them at such a young age - but I DO say it with hope!

Here's the thing:  God conquered death!  Jesus physically ROSE from the dead!  He parted the Red Sea for his people's freedom, and He can conquer the grip of sin in anyone's life!!  HE is the one who will love these boys, HE is the one who will mold their hearts, and HE is the one who will ultimately redeem them for eternity.  We are just his conduits for such work.

We cling to this promise, but we also know it will be hard.  HARD to have 4 kids and both of us work full time.  HARD to have 4 kids under the age of 5.  HARD when they just won't go to bed!  (Hey, this one is hard right NOW!)

So we acknowledge this, but ask for your prayers and cling to the Lord's promises all at the same time.  We acknowledge the tension that comes with obedience.  And we acknowledge that prayer works.  (Hey, you read last week, prayed for us, and BAM!  Now we have bunk beds!)  So keep that praying up...and have a great week.  :)

Between now and May -

As May gets ever closer, I've been asked how the process is going.  Short answer - really well, we are plugging along at it!

The longer answer is a review of some things we've accomplished recently, and the things we still need to get done.  Although this blog is a bit boring with the practical side of things, I hope it will help those of you considering fostering in the future!  We also really, really appreciate those of you praying for us - especially about the really practical stuff.  :)

What we accomplished in January:
- I got my physical, TB, and bloodwork done.  (Turns out I'm healthy enough to care for children!  Yay!)
- I got my CPR/First Aid done.
- We got about 1/2 the van's problems fixed.
- We got the van smog checked
- We got more child locks on cabinets
- We got the rest of the boys' bedding
- I got my birth certificate copy

What we need to do before we can turn in our paperwork and get our house inspected:
- Get the garage door fixed (broke in December)
- Get the rest of the van's repairs done
- Get the van officially registered (This one has been especially tough - please pray!!)
- Get the van and truck inspected
- Dan's birth certificate copy
- Dan's physical, TB and bloodwork
- The rest of the cabinet child locks up
- Buy and assemble a bunk bed
- Get a fridge first aid kit
- Reorganize and "babyproof" our bedroom and bathroom
- Complete our "Family Guidelines"
- Get the pets' paperwork up to date
- Get a water heater blanket

I'm sure I'm missing some things, but you get the general idea.  :)  Dan has a few 3 day weekends this month, so pray he is able to be really productive and get some of the bigger stuff taken care of (garage door, van, etc.).  Our plan is to have all this done sometime in March, so we have a month to get the house inspection scheduled and completed by the end of April.

Would you specifically pray for the van situation?  As some of you already know, the whole purchasing and registering of this thing has been a MESS.  It has been the most discouraging part of the process so far.  Please pray not only for justice and redemption regarding the van, but that it would be SWIFT!

Please continue to pray that Dan and I are able to keep checking off boxes steadily.  Some days I am overwhelmed by all the little things, and I have to keep focusing on the big picture...we have plenty of time to finish what we need to, and the Lord will continue to provide, right?  Right.  :)  I will write soon about all the spiritual and emotional prayer requests we have...there's plenty of those, too.  But until then, it's back to the to do list!

Thanks for lifting our little family up in prayer.  We are grateful you are going on this journey with us!

From a Mexican Prison

(Get comfy - it's a long one, but also a really, really good one!)

For the last three years, Dan and I have been helping out with Mexico Outreach at APU.  Amazing ministry, check it out if you're ever interested in serving with us!  (www.apu.edu/mexout)  We are the camp deans for the Summer 1 trip at the end of June, and we lead an alumni team that goes as well.  We have taken the girls every time and love the chance to show the girls another culture and serve together as a family.

This past June's trip was the first time we really started telling people we were feeling called to foster/adopt, and saying it out loud really started confirming it in us!  It was amazing to hear people's prayers and encouragement for us as we shared our hearts.

As always, it was an amazing week of ministry, but this story is about our last day there.  We had visited all the ministry sites, and on the last day our team was invited to go into the prison to hand out some shoes.  (Mexican prison is sooo different!  Their clothes and basic necessities aren't provided, so family members or friends have to provide for the prisoners.  If you don't have any, you're out of luck.  Mexico Outreach has teams who go in and try to help those who have nothing and need clothes, shoes, and toiletries.  We bring lunch in with us, have a time of singing and sharing, and can share the Gospel - it's such an amazing ministry.)

Anyway, our team was thrilled to go.  I have been "in prison" a few other times in Mexico, but never in Ensenada.  During our free time with the women at the end, I caught the eye of one lady and she approached me.  I was so surprised at how well she spoke English! 

I asked her how she was, and how I could pray for her.  She was very quick to share with me that she was in jail because of drugs, and she wanted prayer for her kids because she didn't know where they were.

I asked her if she was going through withdraws and how her body was.  She said she was over them now, and now that her head was clear, she felt so, so sorry for doing drugs and neglecting her kids.  She was glad to be clean of the drugs, but she was sorry for being a bad mom.  She missed them so much.  She had no idea where they were or when she was going to see them again. 

As my heart broke for this woman who looked so kind and shared so easily, the Holy Spirit gave me a few verses to share with her to encourage her (Oh, for the power of His Spirit!  How He always gives me the right words when I need them...how did I go straight to those verses??).  As I opened my Bible, she read the verses in English!  She could even READ English!  I talked her through them and tried to encourage her that the Lord gives us grace and second chances.

I only had a few minutes with her, and the call to leave came.  I asked her if she was interested in learning more about Jesus, who was able to forgive her mistake.  She said yes, she was - so eagerly!  I didn't have much time, so I pointed out the other ladies in the prison I knew were believers.  I told her that they had Bibles, and to ask them more about Jesus since this was our last day.  I told her to read the book of John to start.  She agreed, and said she was so grateful for my encouragement.

I prayed with her quickly, and just like that we had to line up to leave.  And that's when it happened.  As we were standing in line, waiting on the guards, the Lord's voice came upon me and I began to cry.

"Kristi, this woman's children are the kind of children who are going to need you and Dan.  This woman is my daughter.  She made a bad choice, but I love her and her kids.  And I'm going to show my love to others like them because you are going to take care of their kids in the foster system."

Confession: it's been a long time since I've heard the Lord's voice that clearly.  And it was heartbreaking.  And powerful.  And such a strong confirmation.  Confirmation!  Dan and I are just obeying the call we heard, and the Lord is choosing to confirm our obedience every step of the way!  What are the chances, out of all those ladies, that this one wanted to talk to me about her kids who were taken away from her?

That day in the prison was tough.  It opened my eyes to the other side - the parent of the kids we will be taking in our homes.  Who was this woman?  How was she introduced to drugs?  Was it one bad friend?  Was it a guy she wanted to impress?  How did she learn English so well?  Where are her kids?  I'll never know the answers, but I bet she never intended things to get so bad.  I bet she just made a few bad choices.  I bet the Lord wants so much more for her.  I hope I can approach the birth parents of our foster kids with the same kind of grace and understanding, after knowing they have neglected their kids enough for them to end up in the system.

Would you pray for us about this?  Would you pray we would have compassion on those parents when we meet them in May?  Would you pray we would even have the chance to encourage them with God's Word and with the Gospel?  Would you pray that our hearts remain soft to the situation and that we wouldn't be tempted to be judgmental?  Even now, would you pray they would be repentant for their mistakes and be open to accepting Jesus' forgiveness?

I can't quite describe the peace and joy that comes from truly following Jesus' call.  Forgive me if this just sounds cheesy, but it's the place where we find our very purpose and existence!  This is what we were MADE to do!

Thanks in advance for these prayers.  Isn't it great knowing we have a God of restoration?  A God who takes the broken and fixes?  A God who takes the hurting and comforts?  A God who takes neglect and fear, and turns it into love!  I pray with every ounce of me that we can reflect our God's attributes every step through this process.