Monday Meditations

Adoption rocks! We do not even have LynnMarie home and this thing called adoption has drastically changed my life. I've witnessed God's love all around me for that I am thankful. This week, I pray that God continue to give all of us a sense of peace. We decided to adopt to start a family but man, I have gotten so much more than that. I do not mean to sound simple or a bit cheesy but most of the time its really hard to put into words how my heart feels. What are you praying about? I want to know. I want to pray for you. I am sooo enjoying this. I want my heart to be a praying heart. I want to go to God for you. 5 years ago, I would have found this quite difficult and now I find so much energy and peace but having some real intimate conversations with our Father..


I do not have a list this week. Let's just talk to Him!

While we wait for LynnMarie, this is how Amy keeps busy

Friends

I want to hug you Micah

Cheese! Check out my smile!

I want the camera!

Sheridan and Micah

Kim and Sheridan

Kim, Karen, Micah and Sheridan


I had the honor of having lunch with Kim and Sheridan 2 weeks ago and I was completely entertained. We then went to the mall and met Karen and Micah and had fun. These ladies gave me sooo much information and I had a blast playing with the boys. Boys are fun!!!!!

Special Day

Today is the 23rd of June. We have been on the list having logged-in 14 months ago. Today is the day we add the 15th book to LynnMarie's LID Anniversalibrary. Today was something more too. We spent 6 hours together working on things around the house and this evening we had a visit from our social worker to update our home study with our special needs options now being considered. The update went very smoothly, and then we went to trivia where we were in 2nd place before the final bonus which we missed (but came ver close to getting right). Now that we are home, it came time for me to pick a new book as it's my turn (Amy and I alternate). I decided to check the NY Times BEstseller list for children's books and this title caught my eye, and then the cover made it a lock, especially with a cartoon version of Lucy the Basset Hound being on the cover.

Hey, check this out

Not many thing really get under my skin, but as a future mom to a child from CHina, this did it.

Read this and tell me how you feel. I know his mailbox is full!

Monday Meditations

Whats going on? Today I am just thankful for all thats around me. I am thankful we are having our homestudy update done today ! Need some prayer? Please share with us and I know other blogging friends would be happy to today!

Dear little people

Dear Sheridan, Shelby, Micah, Laney, Lena, Lily, Marissa, Reece, Mimi, Ricky,Glenys, Allie, Noah, Emily, Cacki, Giana, Aria, Maren, and to all those I have met in the hospital or have forgotten,

You may never know this but in your young lives, you have greatly impacted mine. You have made Michael and I smile, and given us a glimpse of our future. Just by simply being you, you have helped grow our hearts.
YOu have made my life just a little bit brighter. I have developed some real relationships with some of you and I consider it an amazing gift and blessing and I treasure the time I spend with you and your families.

Thank you for being you. One day I hope your parents tell you how your little life helped bring encouragement to so many. The red thread is an amazing thing!

To your parents, thank you for adopting. For had you not followed that voice of God's I would not be experiencing what I am experiencing. Your decision years ago is impacting more people than you will ever know. I can not express how my heart feels about the past 2 years! Its been so incredible. Its been road all right, I could never have imagined this amazing thing called adoption. Its soooo much more that that, isn't ?

To hear Micah say Aunt Amy rocks made my day!

another one of those questions

Now we start the house cleaning for a few reasons

1) Our house should always be clean
2)The SW will be visiting
3) I can not wait to bring LynnMarie home

One of the questions I have gotten in the past that has started to bother me is the, aren't you going to miss being pregnant? Actually this bothers me a lot because this is none of any one's business. Hope I am not being rude, but I think the question is rude. The fact is that for some women, you become obsessed with being pregnant. Once you get married, the biggest question from people is "So when are you going to have kids?" Ya gotta be careful not to let that identify who you are. I am so grateful for the spirit of adoption and that my heart for adoption has changed in the past 7 years! I'm so thankful for being a part of this amazing journey which has literally changed parts of my life and brought some amazing people in my life, and made working even better.

First of all, we have not ruled that out at all. In fact Michael and I have never done the infertility stuff. That is the end of that question.

Will I miss it? I previously may have said yes but not any more. When you find the ultimate peace with adoption, its not even in your mind (until someone brings it up, ha!). This is the coolest feeling. Michael and I are starting a family. Its just a different way but the love we already have for LynnMarie is the same you have for your child.

Not many questions have bothered me and this was a question that was asked months ago and I figured if I wrote the post out, I may feel better.

This is better written than done. If you are in the same boat, do not let anyone take your joy. It may not be their intent but do not let those questions get you in a bad mood. I have done that in the past and wasted so much energy letting those questions bother me.

Okay, I will get off of my soap box now.

more paperwork

Getting ready to get a new 797 before the present one expires so I had to make a run to our agency today. I was able to turn in everything but medical forms but my physical is tomorrow so I will mail those in tomorrow. Now we get to have a home visit and get the home study updated..

Time for Operation Christopher Clean up!!

I did update the Quilt Blog, added 2 more so we are now up to 62 sqaures!!!

Monday Meditations

******* Hey guys, say a prayer for this little girl that I read about on another blog************

Today I am thankful for
1) Meron is with her mom and dad Tymm and Laura. Meron has the best "gotcha day" picture ever in the history of adoptions!

2) our MCC is with our agency

3) God is watching over LynnMarie until we get her home and the people who are praying for her

4) the amazing people I have met through this adoption community and blogging

5) the family with Chinese girls I met this weekend at work. I learned, I laughed, I cried. Awesome

6) that we are peace about the MCC. Its really a cool thing!

7) 8 days for the CCAA

8) for all of my friends who are paperchasing

9) for those who continue to encourage me!

What are you thankful for today?-

Happy Father's Day

To all the dads out there, a happy father's day. My Amy got me something special today, my first Father's Day gift! Granted, we are childless at the moment, but our hope is that LynnMarie will be with us at this time next year. Below are some pictures of my gifts, and I'd like to send out a special Happy Father's Day to Tim and Tymm. Tim is my younger brother, who became a father twice over 3 and a half weeks ago with the birth of his second son, Cameron. Tymm is a friend of ours from church and the international adoption community. Yesterday he and Laura met their baby girl when they made it to the orphanage in Ethiopia where she has been living.

Poker can be good for relationships

So this afternoon (Saturday) Amy is sleeping as she got in from her second of three days working in a row. I had some time to kill, so I went to Winston's to play cards. When I got there I found out the tables would all be in the smoking section today, so I went in to non-smoking to eat my lunch.

There were only 2 or 3 tables active, but one had a couple with two girls and when the mom was passing my table I asked if the girls were from China and explained my interest being based in our adoption journey. I was right and I got to meet Mike and Molly and their daughters Eve and Janie Grace (I hope I got the younger daughter's name right).

They are not originally from Atlanta, having been in TX and OK before, so I told them about and invited them to First Fridays and exchanged business cards so we could be in touch. I love the joy that comes with meeting fellow China families and being part of such a special community.

On another small world note, I was playing cards at a friend's house last night and discovered that one of the guys I know from Randy's game is the ex-step-father of a high school classmate of mine. In fact, Ken, his ex-wife, and Kelly lived FIVE houses down the street from us for about 7 years back in the 80's. Pretty cool, except he has no contact with Kelly or her mom, so no way to say hi or anything.

joy restored?

SO this morning at work, I sent out an email update on the Christopher adoption. (let me know if you are interested in being on the list or on the prayer update list). Its always fun to share whats going on with people you do not get the chance to talk to or see.

Since turning in our MCC, my eyes have opened to new things. Kind of amazing, kind of scary. I think, hope, dream, and pray about LynnMarie. When I take care of Chinese kids at work, my mind races. Happened again last night. Obviously I can not give details, but I watched a mother love her child and it warmed my heart.

I can not wait to love her more. I can not wait to protect her, plan things for her, pray over her. Someone came up to me the other day and said. "So I hear you are getting a special needs baby?". That is totally false. Perhaps the maternal part of me coming out.But we will not have a special needs baby. She will not be labeled.She may be a beautiful, wonderful child with a special need, but she will not be a special needs baby. I know I need to check my words sometimes but this really rubbed me the wrong way. That's one of the things they teach you in nursing school. You say she has cancer rather than shes a cancer patient because theses diseases and disabilities do not own you. I think that I am beginning the glimpse things that I never thought about before.

So, my joy was restored again this week as I look forward to loving more and watching our hearts grow even more. I watch these moms watch their children suffer and as I walk with them, my heart is heavy.

I so enjoy this journey of adoption. I can not believe the things about myself I have learned. I have seen the good in people, even strangers. I have experienced community. God has whispered to me and I have listened. I can not wait to see where this takes us! I am so excited to get myself and my home ready for a child..WooHoo!

For those adopting families in blogs, you have helped created my dreams, my prayers. I have to tell you that the Miracle (that's actually their name) family is in China getting their son and she still had time to send me an encouraging note!

Man you guys rock!

Thank you Secret Pal

These are really bad pictures but what a wonderful secret pal I have had the past year. She is awesome and has put so much heart into each gift. Once again I was surprised. My encouraging note explained my new t-shirt. She noticed I tend to say things "rock" on my blog so she got my a shirt that says 'Adoption rocks'! Way cool!

She also got me a puzzle, wonderful magnets with words like hope, faith, joy, believe and a celebration plate with a wonderful explanation! The plate is to be served to someone celebrating something whether its adoption, birthday, graduation. This was a very cool gift and I can not wait to pass this down in our family! and I had not idea who you were!!!!

Thank you Lisa B from New York! You rock!!!!!!

One year ago

One year ago we decided on LynnMarie Christopher.Click here to see the post and the amazing comments from family and friends everywhere. One year of praying for her by name!

Monday Meditations

Okay, so there is a lot to be thankful for. The Miracle family is in China getting their son. Tymm and Laura and heading to Ethiopia this week to being their sweet girl home. Referrals are on their way. Life is good! People are adopting domestically. Children are finding homes. Families are meeting each other for the first time and when you think about that, your heart has to smile! I am thankful for this thing called blogging. I have really enjoyed getting to know so many of you.
Lots to pray for as well. I loved both of these pics, this week. I continue to pray for our sweet LynnMarie and every hand that touches her and every set of eyes that sees her. I pray for our agencies. I know this is a hard time for all of them. I pray for our families who keep asking when our babies are coming home, and you know they feel bad when you give them the same answer.

Pray for the baby who is in crib # 18. Our First Friday group is sponsoring this crib through Love Without Boundaries.
I pray for you. I pray that as you read this, you know that you rock. Even if you are not in the adoption community (haha)!!!! I pray that you will find some peace today and that you will stay encouraged.

So what about you? Whats on your heart today?

adoption plans have changed

Haha! We are not dropping out, if that's what you are thinking!!!!!

We sent in our MCC (Medical Checklist)!!! This means we are in line for a child with special needs. As Kim P told us, we are kind of in 2 lines now. Things haven't changed with our LID (the date China logged in our paperwork) but we are also in line for a child in special needs. This really is a big deal. Someone asked me if this was because of the wait being so long. Honestly, that does have something to do with. Pride kept me from pursuing this or asking Michael because we didn't want people to think that's the only reason.

The truth of the matter is that it really does not matter what people think at all. Each family has to do what is right for them. I am a pediatric nurse. I specialize in cleft lip/palate, other plastic surgeries and neuro conditions. I am surrounded by wonderful resources in one of the best children's hospitals in the country. We did check off cleft lip/palate along with several other things. What does this mean? It does mean we may not have to wait as long as we thought about for LynnMarie to get home. But it does not guarantee anything. We still have a good wait ahead of us.

Now, some of you might say, okay you sent in your checklist. Lots of people have done that. True. But since we are not getting our daughter the old fashioned route, I will celebrate anything we do that may impact her coming home. I am excited. This could be a new journey. Who knows? I have emailed several friends about pediatricians. I do work with a lot and will get feedback from those, but we do need to find one in our insurance group that will look at the file before we accept our referral. This is cool isn't it?
This is both scary and wonderful This means that if you were waiting to turn your quilt square in, don't. Turn it in. We have 40 left to collect and we want you to be a part of it.

When I put the checklist in the mail, I found myself praying over it. I do not normally do this, but this could be the beginning of something wonderful. I prayed over it, reviewed it and mailed it. I prayed for our social worker, our agency, our sweet girl and those who are caring for her.

God is good and I have such a sense of peace. You know whats fun? To think that God is working in us right now and planting seeds and one day we will see those seeds grow.. God rocks! This adoption community rocks.

First Friday

After many months, we went back to our First Friday group and we had a good time and had some yummy cookies.

We started the evening at La Dolce Vita with friends and watching Sheridan, Lili and Micah was fun! Micah is awesome and I am so glad we finally met. Karen and Bruce, you rock as parents and I hope I am half as fun as you guys!

Then we went to the church to meet our group. It was just a really nice time. Mr. Dan, thanks for showing the video and speaking. No matter what you say, there is always a phrase that always sticks in my heart and I so grateful for you and your family.

We met some new people and visited with old friends. This group is completely amazing. We have families adopting from China, Vietnam, Ethiopia (very soon) and domestically. We have seen pregnancies (some were surprise pregnancies) and have rejoiced and celebrated with them.

Check out the sidebar. First Friday group has a trip planned to China and the Starfish Orphanage was mentioned. Many of us have been praying for Amanda and the children in her care..Let's continue!!

If you are in Atlanta, I hope you will be at FF in August!!!!

The Week So Far

Well, you all know what our news and struggle this week. It's been tough, there's no doubt about that and we both appreciate the comments and emails and prayers you have offered.

We have something good to look forward to this week and that is First Friday. We haven't been to a First Friday meeting in about 4 months I think. I could look it up based on the history of the programs they've had, but it's not that important. We had months where we were out of town or where one or both of us had to work. The thing is we will get to spend time with friends we haven't seen in a long time and we'll meet some new babies. I'll be trying my best to focus on the other people and keep it from being about us and our loss. The purpose of the meetings are to learn, celebrate and socialize, so we're definitely looking forward to that evening.