Adoption Update & Answered Prayers

We got the news today.... and our first appeal was a big, fat NEGATIVE. :(

We were expecting this, so we have prepared ourselves for this news.

The next step is our last chance at bringing Selah home. And that is the Supreme Court in Kaz. It will take some time to get an appeal date with the Supreme Court. So, we won't have any court updates for awhile. (however, i update this blog frequently- so check back!)

Thank you for your prayers. You may not think your (or our) prayers are working, but they are working in ways you can't see. 

Here are some way your prayers are working:

• the unexplainable peace we have,
• the more intimate relationship we are having with Christ, 
• our marriage is stronger instead of struggling during this hard year, 
• we have a better perspective with Seth and Gage and just how much children are a blessing and not a burden
  
• We understand now what it means to "trust God" 
• We know what FAITH looks like now
• And scripture has become ALIVE to us now.

We are off to North Carolina to be with family and to "maybe" ski a little with the boys. We are looking forward to some relaxin' time.

We love you!

Merry Christmas 2008

The reason for the season....Happy Birthday JESUS!!!

One of our traditions is that boys can open their new pj's on Christmas Eve and wear them to bed.....they were so excited to get Star Wars pj's.... :)

Our Christmas Eve service was SO nice. We had it out on a large farm and it was beautiful under the canopy of stars....

Merry Christmas!!!! :)

** We still don't know how the appeal court date went...still waiting to hear word from my agency. - I will post on here once I know something. Thanks for the prayers. ***

nothing yet

Well, its 4:13 pm and I STILL haven't heard from agency today as to how the court appeal went. I wish I could know so that I can get the news behind me, before we go out of town. :(

I am not sure WHY I am not getting an update. Wait, wait, wait....story of our lives!

A Baby Changes Everything

This Christmas is the first Christmas (if I am being honest) that I think I have focused on the true meaning and the true reason for this time- the birth of my Savior! Not just the birth either, but the sacrifice that He gave, for me....for you. I am reading Max Lucado's book called "He Chose the Nails" and I picked it up at a yard sale for $0.50 and it really couldn't be anymore perfect timing. The way that Max Lucado describes and writes it is so beautiful.

 I am in awe of what my Savior did for me, because I know I don't deserve it. Sometimes, I cry to Him and ask Him why He would ever do this for me. Because He loves me and you, more than our little minds can fathom. He loves us SO much. 

Here is a new song by Faith Hill that is perfect. I LOVE the end....I could just jump up and down during the part, "I once was lost but now I am found....oh, how a BABY can change EVERYTHING!!!!!"

Please comment on what the song made you think of- I can't wait to read!!! :)

Teenage girl, much too young

Unprepared for what's to come

A baby changes everything

Not a ring

On her hand

All her dreams and all her plans

A baby changes everything (x2)

The man she loves she's never touched

How will she Keep his trust

A baby changes everything (x2)

And she cries, oh she cries

She has to leave, go far away

Heaven knows she can't stay

A baby changes everything

She can feel it's coming soon

There's no place, there's no room

A baby changes everything (x2)

And she cries and she cries O she cries

Shepherds own they got their... 

Star shines down... 

Choir of Angels say

Glory to the newborn king

A baby changes everything (x2) everything, everything, every day

Hallelujah x4

My whole life is turned around

I was lost and now I'm found

A baby changes everything (x2)

My Big 5 year old!

Today is my oldest child's birthday!!! He is FIVE, I repeat- FIVE today! Can someone tell me where the time has gone?!?!  I feel as though I am a 70 year old woman saying in my mind over and over, "it goes by so fast". Its true! It really does go by fast.

Seth is an amazing blessing in my life. I thank God for one more year with him. And I pray for many, many more.

Last night, as I was tucking him into bed, we had a sweet conversation:

me: Seth, when you wake up in the morning you are going to be FIVE!

seth: (with a HUGE smile on his face) I know.

me: Now that you are five that means you have to stop sucking your thumb and you get to start earning money by doing chores around the house.

seth: what's chores?

me: Well, chores are things you do to earn money, like take out the trash and make your bed.

seth: i like that.

me: and then we will take the money you earn and we will take some and give it back to God, save some, and then you can buy something with some that is left.

seth: (with a brightened expression) Mommy, we need to give some to children who don't have anything and children who have no toys.

me: yes, Seth, we do. That is very kind of you to think of them.

seth: (with a look of serious determination) Mommy, you NEED to drive me to the children so that I can give them money and toys. You need to take me there Mommy. You have to.

me: (as my heart is melting) I will Seth. Sometimes, we can also put our money to God in the basket at church and they use that money to help people too. 

seth: yeah! I am going to do that.

Thank you lord for his tender heart. I pray that you will guide Shane and I in raising him to keep this heart of love and kindness. I pray that you will strengthen us as his parents to guide him to You! Thank you for another year with my Seth and Gage. Please bring Selah home soon. Amen.

“You Have Taught Me”

by Anne Maclellan

You have taught me patience

to rejoice in small gains which others take for granted.

You have taught me tolerance

to accept that your perspective is different and deserves respect.

You have taught me courage

to fight for you when no one else will.

You have taught me endurance

to go on when I feel I can’t anymore.

You have taught me humility

to accept when I can’t make things better but can only be here for you.

You have taught me to love at a deeper level

than I ever thought possible.

Appeal date already!

We just got news that we have an appeal date set for December 24th! The good news is that it came MUCH earlier than anyone anticipated, so that will bring us one step closer to eventually bringing our daughter home. But, the bad news, is we are all pretty certain it will be a denial, because all the other families in our situation have already been through this part and have been denied. However, it brings us closer to getting to the Supreme Court.  You have to go through all the "steps" in order to get to the Supreme Court, and this is one step closer....so in that we are thankful!!!!

I am trying to not even think that there could be hope in a positive on Dec 24th because the chances are extremely slim, but there is still that little part of me that wonders, "what if?"!!!

Oh and this isn't something we have to attend...it is all done without us. :)

Dog House- hilarious

I got this video (click HERE ) from a friend's blog. I laughed SO hard. Tell me what you think! 

Enjoy!!!!  Our poor men.... :)

*Make sure you scroll to the bottom of this blog and pause my music first so you can hear the video.*

over-indulgence?

What do you all think is considered "over-indulging" your children? 

I think we can too often overindulge our children by giving them or allowing them to do things that should be given or permitted when they are older.  The result of that can lead to spoiled children who demand no less. Imagine a little girl all grown up and married and she has a husband who lost his job or she married the man God wanted her to, but he is not wealthy and can't give her the lifestyle her parents did. What then? Should we be setting our children up for that? Or should we teach them humility by making wise decisions as their parents to take the pro-active step in NOT over-indulging them??? True success isn't defined by our bank accounts and what we have anyway. I want my children to appreciate a dollar earned. I want my children to experience new things at the right ages. I don't want my children to have done everything by the time they are 7! I see so many 5 year olds getting limo rides for their birthdays!!!!!  It meant the WORLD to me to be able to be in my first limo ride with my husband! It wouldn't have meant the same had I done it when i was FIVE! Plus, why does a 5 year old need to have a limo ride?!?! Good Grief!

I think it boils down to the fact that the parents think its fun and so they allow it. BUT, we have to be wise and hold off on things, on purpose, for the better good of our children. Yes, it would be FUN for us adults to go do that, but not wise to allow our 5 year olds to do things that should be preserved for later.

I worry that it teaches the never-ending cycle of immediate gratification or the never-ending cycle of working long hours to get more, more, more!

"But, store up for yourselves treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and theives do not break in and steal. For where your heart is there your treasure is also."

What do you think?

Thankful

I am just feeling overwhelmingly thankful today. And had to post it. Even though life gets hard and yucky at times, there is still so much to be thankful for. God is good and so many times I miss Him doing things to show it to me. 

I love you Lord. I trust You. I know Your plans are good. I want to be in Your will and not mine. Guide me Lord in all areas. amen

Verdict is in

The verdict came in and the judge has given us a NEGATIVE verdict.

He had a LIST of reasons to deny us and the entire list was untrue. Our facilitators in Kaz have already drafted up a claim letter stating how each reason is false and they then stated the truth next to each reason.

This is so frustrating, to say the least. We don't understand the "whys". But, we CHOOSE to keep trusting God, even though its really hard sometimes.

The appeal process officially started today. And we are in for a LONG road AGAIN. I don't understand why we are being kept from our daughter. I just know that she is getting older without her family.

Wow....

Wow...I LOVED your comments on the last post about "traditions for Thanksgiving".....Thanks for playing along!

News for today is no shocker! The judge said he "couldn't make a decision still", so he adjourned the court hearing AGAIN until this Monday at 11am.

I have contacted the Embassy again to see if they will make contact with him again.  In the meantime, I am drafting up a letter that will be sent to MANY high offices in Kaz. Maybe this can get something done for all of the families in our situation.  We will see....

Traditions...

So, for some holiday fun- I want to know one tradition you have that is just for Thanksgiving????

I love to hear!

Happy Birthday Selah!

Happy 2nd Birthday Selah!

Your Mommy, Daddy, and big brothers love you!

We pray that we are getting closer to bringing you home forever....

no verdict still...

No verdict again today.... we were adjourned once again until Wednesday. 

The good news in that was, at least, it wasn't a negative verdict (yet), the bad news is it just keeps delaying the feeling of being in purgatory!

prayer

I have a HUGE request to ask of you: Could you take a minute to say a prayer tonight (Thursday night around 8-9pm). Our verdict is scheduled for tonight at 9pm our time. We have been given an indication of a slight chance of some good news. But, of course, it is very slim still.

I would faint if we got a positive verdict. But, there is a little glimmer of hope after hearing that some things have been happening even since we left. Of course, it could still be negative. And if it is, we are in for a very long appeal process with an unknown end result.

If you wouldn't mind saying one more prayer for us tonight, it would be great.

I will update you as soon as I know the result tomorrow.

Home and....WOW!

After a very LONG 3 flight trip, we are home. My step mom, Barb, picked us up. Thanks Barb! :)

And it is through tears that I write this, because we came home to flowers, a stocked fridge and pantry, dinner for tomorrow night in the fridge, gift cards to Publix, Walmart, and the movies, homemade cookies, bottles of wine, they put air fresheners things in our house so our house smelled good, "we love you" banner on our garage door, a welcome home cookie cake!

Amazing!  THANK YOU to whomever did all of this. THANK YOU! 

Goodnight.

Coming Home

In 7 hours we will be boarding the plane to come back home. We will be home Tuesday night, your time.

In regards to the "details" of all that has been going on, I would rather not post on the blog.

Keith and Cheryl will be bringing the boys down on Thursday and they are going to stay with us through Thanksgiving weekend. We are so happy they are going to be with us. :)

We will keep fighting to bring our daughter home because:

She is our daughter and God made that clear, so until the door is totally closed, we will keep going. It doesn't look hopeful to keep going, but we will never know until we get there and get slammed in the face by the door, right?  But, if we give up now, then we will live with the regret of not knowing what could or would have been.

We love you. We can't even express how thankful we are of all the emails, phone calls, comments on the blog, the couple that deposited some money into our checking account (you know who you are!) and prayers you have provided for us. If one thing is for sure, it is knowing that we are loved and cared for back home. And that is what the Body of Christ truly is. Thank you for serving our Lord in that.  We hope to have the honor of doing the same in return.

Around town...

As you can see by this electrical box outside of our apartment door, we are not that safe. We are glad that our apartment is made out of concrete so that we don't burn alive! :)

We walked by this "Sex Shop" and couldn't resist to snap a pic. And NO we didn't go in. You never know what you might find in there, while in Kaz!!

You, too, can purchase a Pig's head to eat at the local Meat Market!!! Mmmm...tasty! :)

Or you can just settle for the other "horse" meat just laying around.....

Enjoy!!!

update

We haven't had our final court date officially yet. We are hoping for Monday. The judge keeps delaying and stalling to give us our negative verdict. So, we aren't technically at a "no" stage, but its been made pretty clear.  So its like 99.9999% a No, and the rest a possible yes. But, I would probably FAINT if he gave us a yes, at this point.

In the meantime, we have been fighting....can't be specific here.  We have NO IDEA at this point if she will EVER be our daughter officially. She will always be our daughter in our minds and in our hearts. If we have to release her, then it will be like a death. We already feel that way. This is hard and heartbreaking. I am not looking forward to coming home and seeing her room all made up. I will be packing up her room and putting everything in the closet. It is too hard to walk by it everyday....constant reminder. :(

We have been hanging out with another american couple (gary and josie) that we have enjoyed SO much. They have become our family while here. They remind us of our friends from home. We are so blessed to have their company. They are coming over tonight for dinner (Fri night).We are making chicken (we think its chicken!), yellow rice I brought from home, peas, and bread. They had us over a couple of nights ago and she cooked us a gourmet meal in KAZ! I couldn't believe she found half the stuff at the grocery store here! They are adopting from the city, not the area with all the mess, and they are adopting a little boy. They have had a wonderful, smooth process. We are happy for them.

We don't know yet when we are coming home. But, I will let you all know here on the blog when we do know.

Have I mentioned how much we miss our boys?!?!? We want to take a family vacation somewhere...just the 4 of us.  We don't care about the money anymore....we are tired of not doing anything b/c of "making sure we have enough money for the adoption". We are done putting our life "on hold".

Never Mind...

Never Mind... We are coming home soon (without Selah).

We are hopeless.

NEED PRAYERS NOW!!!

We need your prayers now more than ever....I can't say what is going on right now. But, please PRAY....the battle may have just begun, but this could possibly end it positively. Once i can say, i will. But, know the only reason we have to not say right now is to protect our case.

PLEASE PRAY!!!!!!

Well....

We have been postponed yet again.... We don't know until when. We have been given two different stories, so we don't know what is up. But, by the end of the week, we hope to know something. We never even saw the judge today, but we sat in the court room while our coordinator met with him in private. Our coordinator is the one who told us he needed more time.

We know that your prayers are working, so please don't lose heart. If the prayers weren't working then the judge would have just given us a negative verdict back on the first court hearing and been done with us.

Things are happening, we feel it.... Please keep praying!

We are frustrated and tired, but have hope. We will go to see Selah tomorrow after not seeing her since Friday. That is always hard on her and us when she hasn't seen us that long. Please pray for our time tomorrow.

We miss our boys like crazy. Keith and Cheryl- please give them a big KISS and tell them we love them SO much!

We can't thank you enough for all of your faithful prayers! We love you!!!

SNOW!

Last night (Saturday night) we met up for dinner with Gary and Josie, another American family (from Pittsburgh) who are here adopting. We had a wonderful time with them. We are looking forward to more dinners together. On the way to meeting them for dinner we had to run in the rain for 10 minutes. And then on the way back, it was raining and we had to run home. Shane said, "on our next adoption, lets try to remember an umbrella!" (Just an FYI, umbrellas are like 40.00 here!...so we will run in the rain)

We woke up this Sunday morning to SNOW! and I mean ALOT of SNOW! Its actually very beautiful. I took pics, but can't post them right now b/c we are in an internet cafe. I will soon.

I have butterflies as the day nears the end, because it means its closer to tomorrow's court.

Your time tonight at 12 midnight will be our Monday at 11am. Thank you to every one of you all who have been so faithful in praying for us. It really means so much.

We will post on the blog as soon as we have the results of tomorrow's court hearing.

Love to all,
greta and shane

Charity Ball

Here we are at the start of our Cigar Sales! We ended up selling alot of cigars for their charity!

We walked two miles up hill to get to the place b/c we were trying to save our money and not use a cab. Yeah, so I made sure I wore my Nikes and then put my black dress shoes on once we got there.  (We ended up getting a cab to go back home...)  A woman can only handle so much....

We had a great time meeting people from all over the world. All the people that were at this event are people who work here in Kaz, but are from other areas- Australia, London, America, Italy, Russia, Bulgaria, Turkey....just to name a few. BUT, they ALL spoke English and were ALL very friendly.  We were the "newbies" so we were asked a million questions and I even got a proposal! :)

messages

I just had to post what my father-in-law sent to us of our messages from Seth and Gage:

"I love you mommy. I'll love you all the time. I love daddy and Selah too. I'll get a leaf all the time for everyone. You can get any toy for me and Gage. When Selah grows up she has to share. I'll give Selah a toy and I'll be your friend everytime. from Seth"

Gage wanted his mommy again today but he didn't cry. I told him that I had received an e-mail from you saying you missed him and you wanted me to tell him and Seth that you loved them. He seemed fine after that.

Thank you Keith and Cheryl!!!! And thank you for emailing us pics so often. It is AWESOME to see their faces! :)  And thank you for taking such good care of them. We have a peace knowing that they are in good hands.

We had a short time with Selah today. She only wanted to be outside. She only cried a little bit in the beginning, but then was pleasantly distracted by the balloons Daddy had bought for her!

We are going to a charity event tonight put on by some american families that live here. Its an event to raise money to help the poor, handicapped, and elderly here. We will actually be helping the americans at the event by selling cigars as part of the fundraiser!!! :)  Pretty fun. 

Have a great weekend.  Court is on Monday!!!! 

huge progress

We didn't see Selah until 3pm today. The first part of our day was very rough emotionally.  We have been having struggling times with Selah and we were already anticipating another rough day with her.

We get to the Orphanage and they bring her and she cries, of course. BUT, she calmed much quicker this time. The caregiver calmed her a bit and then I showed her the markers and coloring book from yesterday. She came over right away to it and then the caregiver snuck out.

We had the BEST DAY we have EVER had with Selah today!!!!!!!  Literally, Shane and I every so often would out loud say, "Thank you Lord for this"!!!!!

She gave us a glimpse of what she will be like once we get custody and have her everyday. She laughed like crazy today. She spoke to us in russian. She asked Shane to do things for her (this is HUGE). She interacted with us in ways she has never done before. I can't even describe it good enough in words right now. We are still on such a high from our time with her. :)

We will see her in the morning, but then will not be allowed to see her Sat or Sun, and we don't know about Monday either b/c of court. Whenever we have a break like this, she regresses back. So Tuesday will be difficult again. This is why we just need to have her everyday consistently. But we are just sooo happy to have had a glimpse today of what is to come!  And of ALL days, God knew we needed it today (when we were at our lowest).

poop

We just got back from visiting our Selah. She still cries when they bring her to us and clings to the caregiver...we couldn't blame it on the room we were in this time. So the Director calms her down and speaks to her in russian.  Tells us to go outside with her again. We would be more than happy to, because it makes her happy. She was just fine outside with us. Not as happy and smiley and laughey as yesterday, but there were no more tears while we remained outside.

Shane pushed her around on the bike.

I did the slide thing again with her.

We brought markers and a coloring book and we showed her that outside. She loved that. She loved taking the marker out and then putting it back in.

We had to bring her in, because she had a poop accident. They took her and then brought her back like 10 minutes later for lunch and she screamed again and didn't want to come with us. Whew! This is exhausting.  The Director calmed her down and then left. I was then able to feed her and she was fine.

Whew!!

Realized that there were poop remains on my sleeve. yummy.

Last night we met up with another american family that adopted from a surrounding region called Shymkent. They are here in Almaty just until friday to finalize the last part of the paperwork. Their son is SO cute! We have already matched Selah and Ben up for a future marriage. ;)  We met for dinner last night and we have plans to have dinner with them again on Thursday night. We so enjoyed their company and we are looking forward to being with them again on thursday.

Please be in prayer that our judge will give us a positive verdict on Monday. We are very unsure as to what the decision will be.

smile and a laugh!

Today has been a tiring one! Whew! I am drinking Airborne as I type because my body is feeling rundown.

It was a tiring day for good and yucky reasons. We started off our time with Selah "yucky". When they brought her into the music room she screamed! and I mean screamed! I was trying to hold her to console her and she wanted nothing to do with it. She was thrashing, arching her back and trying to run for the door. (What we later found out, is that she doesn't like the music room anymore). She did this for a good 10 minutes....

Anyway, the Director came in and consoled her. It is still sad for me that I am her Mom and can't console her yet. Its hard. It will come with time. I know. But, its still hard now.

Sooo, the Director calms her down with a boatload of Russian words. And then directs me to come with her. We walk down the hallway and the Director is so sweet, she was telling me to hold one of Selah's hands as she held the other. And then scooted us out the door to play outside.  Selah started to warm up, but not quite yet. We were met outside with a bunch of other children that are her age. And let me tell you, I CAN'T get those sweet little children out of my mind! They were ALL so beautiful. The caregivers kept telling them that I was "sveta's mama" and I felt bad they were saying that to them, because these sweet children may never be adopted due to the system. Oh my heart went out to these precious children.  Shane came out later and one boy ran up to him and said, "Papa?"..... *sigh*  If only we could adopt them all!

Anyway, Selah started noticing the other children all around me and started getting more curious. AND the caregivers kept telling her to go with Mama. (They are all so encouraging of us, which is so nice).

Then , I asked Selah if she wanted to get on this little bike thing and she came. I pushed her in it for awhile until I no longer could remain in the bent over position any longer. :)

Then, I held her hand and took over to the playground. Huge step that she let me take her away from the caregivers and the other children.  I put her in the plastic slide and she would slide and then I would lift her up into the air before she hit the bottom. Ok, this was THE BEST THING I HAVE DONE WITH HER, because SHE FINALLY gave us a huge smile!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is huge because we have never got a smile from her, last year we had to tickle her to get a smile!  She has a beautiful, beautiful smile! And gorgeous teeth!   So I did this, of course, for as long as my back could handle it. (Which is probably why I had to pop 2 advils and drink some airborne!)

Then, it gets even better!!!! We play this ball thing with Shane and she ends up LAUGHING!  And I mean chuckling! Shane and I literally thought we had died and gone to heaven. If only you all know how much we have been waiting for a smile, nonetheless a LAUGH!  We were having a blast and didn't want it to end!

I kept asking for kisses in Russian and she would come to me and stick her cheek out for me to kiss it. :) We did that MANY times, because Mama is soooo high maintenance with that.   Shane asked for a kiss and she came and stuck her cheek to him, but then wiped his kiss off her face. LOL..... It made us crack up!

We brought her in and tried to bring her to that music room again for lunch and again she would have nothing to do with it and started thrashing and screaming.....we think the caregivers and Director understand now that she just doesn't like that room!  They put us in another room and she was just fine.

So, the time started off really hard. But, ended beautifully!!!!!!!  We are hoping for the same tomorrow.

Happy Election Day!

Laughter

Laughing is what we did alot of with our time with Selah this morning!!!! And we sure needed a good dose of the laughter Rx!

She had us laughing at her cute little walk, the way she would pass toys between me and Shane, the way she would very hurriedly try to get away from Shane and then plop herself down on my lap, the way she would try very hard not to smile when I was trying to show her HOW to smile, the way she fed herself lunch, the way she would jam HUGE bites of food in her mouth and then store it in her cheeks, the way she propped her sweet little elbows on the table as she was looking at her book we brought, and then the way she looked at us with a "what?" when she saw us dying in laughter, and the way she would shake her head and say "niet" in her mouth (not outloud, of course) whenever we showed her a stuffed animal  ("Niet" is No in Russian)!!! 

 She was such a character today.

She still doesn't speak with us...the "niet" was literally in her mouth, she never opened her lips to say it. But she made it clear that she was saying "niet" to those stuffed animals!!! Ha, ha.

And she DID still cry when they brought her to us. But it lasts for a couple of minutes.

Sooo, at one point she kept patting her bottom and heading for the door, so I told Shane that I think she needs to go potty. (Yes, they already have her in panties-*sigh*)  So I take her down the hall and use charades to tell them that I think she needs to use the potty. So they take her and do their thing. So, they bring her back into us and she pitches a FIT! We can just imagine what she was thinking: "Noooo, I was just able to runaway from these people and now you are bringing me back!!! Noooo!!!! Darn, I thought I made a clean getaway!!"

But, once we sat her down and looked through our books with her, she calmed right away. DANA- She LOVES the "Back in my arms" book!!!! She really does. She points to the Mommy and we say "mama" and then point to me. Then she points to the Daddy and we say "Papa" and then we point to Shane. And then she points to the little girl and we say Selah and then pat her.  Then we started asking her "where is mama?" and she would point to the Mom on the page! Brilliant child! Brilliant!  LOL Ha, Ha.  We are using Mama and Papa because that is the Russian words for it and that is what the caregivers tell her we are. So we are trying to keep it consistent, but eventually we would prefer mommy and daddy. (Lately, Seth has been trying out new names for us. Its funny.)

We get to be with her every day this week from 10-12. We end our session with feeding her lunch and then they take her for her nap.

We know that each day will get better.  And then we need the 10th to deliver us GOOD news so that we can continue this time with her and then eventually bring her home! 

I Will Rise

I just HAVE to encourage you all with what God encouraged me with this morning!!!  

Shane and I have just been in a funk.... we are bored out of our minds, we are worried about what the Nov 10th court decision will bring us, we are saddened by our struggling times with Selah, we just want to bring her home with us so we can start our life together, the seemingly endless battle to bring this little girl home, some depressing news from home, missing our boys very much, our lack of sleep and tiredness, etc....

I have been asking God to strengthen me and to give me His peace.  

Do any of you wonder if the battles in life will ever end???? I know I sure do. It gets exhausting- this life. If its not one thing, its another. Once you end one trial, another starts. It can sure look and get hopeless.

We have our ipod and speakers with us (thank GOD!) and i was listening to a song that i have heard a million times before. However, this time God opened my ears to REALLY hear it. This is one of the ways God answers us!  This is one of the ways He loves on us.....right when we need it!

Here is what i learned from it: This life WILL HAVE struggles, pain, sorrow, heartache, disappointment, etc.... We will not be able to flee from it. Period. BUT, once we are in His presence all sorrow and pain will be gone and we will rise to be with HIM- forever!!!  This earthly life is SO short even though in our earthly minds it seems like this is it. This is all that matters. But, its not! And I am so thankful for that! :) We have a heavenly home that is SO much better and will last forever. So, in the meantime, I can CHOOSE to use this earthly life for His glory. I can CHOOSE to use the pains and struggles and sorrow of this life to know Him better, to further His Kingdom, to do His Will, to glorify him.  Because in all reality He is all that matters, His kingdom is all that matters in the end. Period.  This doesn't mean that our sorrow and pain goes away---oh no, it doesn't. And that is okay. Jesus came as a human on purpose. He chose to come and He knows full well all the temptations, sorrow, and pain we feel. He went through them and more....  So, when we struggle we become more compassionate to others. Our pain brings beauty, if we let it. Our pain makes us more aware of others' pain. 

So, we can CHOOSE to let the pains of this earthly life make us more like Christ or more bitter. I am choosing the first. 

"I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin

Verse 1:

There's a peace i've come to know

though my heart and flesh may fail

There's an echo in my soul

I can sing, It is well

Pre-Chorus:

Jesus, has overcome

and the grave is overwelmed

The victory is won

he is risen from the dead

Chorus:

And I Will Rise when he calls my name

No more sorrow,No more pain

I Will Rise,on Eagle's wings

Before my God fall on my kness,and rise

I Will Rise

Verse:2

There's a day that's drawing near

when the darkness breaks to light

and the shadow's disappear

and my faith shall be my eye's

Pre-Chorus:

Chorus Times2

THE END 

cookies and piano

Our time with Selah started off a little rough, because she cried for a little bit and it was the hard cry. The toughest part is that I feel liek the caregivers are scared to leave her with us, you know..."the strangers". So it makes me nervous and I feel horrible. So, then I start crying because I realize that Selah as NO CLUE how much we love her and its hard to realize that we are just strangers to her. It hurts, but we understand. I told Shane that it gets tiring trying to re-establish trust with her EVERYTIME we are with her and EVERYTIME we come back to Kaz. We just want her to come home with us, so we can start becoming a family together and she can learn to trust us. Please Lord let this be it. Let her come home with us this time! Please!

After a little while, she warmed up and we had a GREAT time. She ate her cookie, with delight! And she drank some hot chocolate milk from her regular mug, of course. She sounded like a shop vac sucking down water....whew! :)

We played the piano together. The caregivers were coming to get her, but when they saw us doing that, they gave us more time. :) She loved it! She loves music and books so far the best. She is not fond of dolls or stuffed animals though yet. But I am sure later she will.

Then a little before they came to gather her up, she was passing toys back and forth between me and Shane. Which was HUGE! And it was SOOO good, but then they came and got her!
Its like RIGHT WHEN we make some kind of progress they come get her!! UGH!!!!

So we will spend today (saturday) and Sunday doing absolutley nothing, because there is NOTHING to do here! So anyone can call us, if you want. Email me and I will give you our phone number.

Keith and Cheryl sent pics of the Halloween Party they went to at their church and we got to see the boys in their costumes! They look like they were having SO much fun. It makes us feel better knowing they are having a blast. But, we miss them terribly. Thank you Cheryl and Keith for taking care of them so well.

Love to you all!

Good Morning!

Listen, its very early in the morning (it seems jet lag is more difficult this time-i guess cause we are year older- we have been up for hours!) and we are going to be leaving soon to go see Selah for the 2nd time. :) BUT, I just feel like you all deserve to know that your prayers are doing more than you can even imagine. They are strengthening us. I vowed to our Lord this morning that I surrender this to Him. I don't know what the outcome will be on the 10th, but I DO know that I fully TRUST our Lord....Fully! And I am so thankful that He has taught me to trust Him this past year. He has taught me His power, His timing, His love, His tenderness....and for that I am so very thankful. We are going to enjoy this time with Selah and hope that the 10th brings us a positive decision. However, if it doesn't, it does not mean God is not at work....OH, trust me, HE IS!!!!! It just means there is more than we can see or know. And we will continue dow that path when it comes.

I want to encourage you all. I prayed for you all this morning and I prayed specifically that not one of you becomes disheartened, loses faith, or gets attacked by the enemy in your minds. Be encouraged because we see God working in miraculous ways over here....in our hearts and in the court system!

Off to see Selah....we are bringing her cookies and juice! The BH Director said we could. She is SO gonna love it! Shane wants to bring her chocolate chip cookies and I said that maybe we shouldn't do the chocolate part, but he stated that Selah will love us even more if we brought her the chocolate chip cookies instead of the plain ones. Such a good Daddy! :)

today

As much as we want to tell you every little detail about what went on into today's court room, I feel that its best not to write it on this blog right now....in order to protect our case.

We went through some emotional ringers today.

On the way to court, we felt totally defeated and hopeless....the coordinator and translator indicated that he would most likely give us a negative decision today, but that we will take it to the next step if he does.

When we got to court and we sat in the waiting room, this overwhelming presence of God went right through me. I described it to Shane as feeling like HE breathed into me and calmed my spirit. I repeated in my mind several times, "All things are possible through Christ" , "all things are possible with Christ".....

They called us in to the court room and I was already crying like a baby!

He came in and it began......

Shane answered many questions in the beginning and I thought he did a wonderful job! When I was asked questions, I tried my best to get my answers out amongst the "ugly cry". :)

He couldn't understand why we would want to adopt when we could have children naturally. We told him why and yet again he kept asking this question, over and over and over!!!

We are postponed to have another court date on Nov 10th at 11am. PLEASE PRAY from now until then that things fall into how God wants them.

Good news is that he didn't give us a negative decision today.

In the meantime, we will still see Selah...we will see her in the morning!

Thank you for your beautiful comments.....they encourage us SO much!

Hello ALL!

We are FINALLY here!!! We had a good flight....it seemed to go by faster than last time. No good movies, but that is okay.

We got to our apartment late at night and was so happy to find out that we have the same apartment as last time. So it sort of felt like home. :) We organized and put things away. Went to sleep at 2am and awoke at 7am....couldn't sleep anymore.

We took a walk around the city and ate at one of our favorite restaurants.....it really hasn't felt like its been almost a year since we were here last. Everything is familiar.

SURPRISE of the DAY--we came back to the apartment at 12:30pm and one of the translators called and said to be ready by 1:10, we were going to see SELAH!!!! It was originally thought that we weren't going to be able to see her until after court on Thursday, but they surprised us with this wonderful news!! I was screaming and jumping up and down.

We got there and I can't really describe the meeting, other than it was awesome. !!!!!
She is breathtakingly BEAUTIFUL. She actually took my breath away when they brought her in. I know, I know...I am such her MOM! She is still small for age- and those of you who know me, know how excited I am about that! She is precious. The Orphanage Doctor told her it was mama and to go to mama and she walked right over to me. I held her and she was scared. She cried a couple of times, but then calmed down. She doesn't like new things very much. Once she was more comfortable, I sat down and started showing her some books I brought. She REALLY likes those touch and feel books. She wasn't shy to touch them. AND CAN I JUST TELL YOU HOW SMART THIS LITTLE GIRL IS?!?!?! She was pointing to one of the dogs and I would say, "yeah that is a dog, ruff-ruff, Selah where are the other dogs?" and she would point to the other two dogs as if she understood what I was saying!! She did this on every page with the other animals too! We are gonna have SO much fun with her.

Ok, well, I couldn't wait to tell you all that we got to see her a day early!!!

Your time on Wed night at 12 midnight, we will be in court here at 10am on Thursday. We are 10 hours ahead of you all (except for my west coast friends).

Thank you for your love and prayers--- we sure feel them!!!

Prayer Party!

Here we are with 52 of our friends gathered together in prayer for Selah, the judge's decision, our safety, our boys safety, and more.... We are blessed with people that have surrounded us with huge amounts of love. Thank you Lord!

God is So good and we pray that you all see how Loving and GOOD our God truly is.

To HIM be the Glory!

AS soon as I get a connection in Kaz and can post, I will. :)

WE LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!

In Order

I haven't posted much because I have been busy getting things in order before we leave and so that we CAN leave. 

The MUCH PRAYED FOR document arrived 5 minutes ago in my mailbox! We ALL need to praise God for that, because that is unbelievable that we received that document SO FAST! :)  

Tickets are booked! We leave Monday at 9:30pm out of Orlando and will arrive in Kaz on Wednesday. Then court is scheduled for Thursday at 10am. 

Our visas are in and all ready.

Our finances were looking scary, and I was beginning to have an ulcer ;)  and God is providing, yet again!!!  Our fees have gone up since last year, and we were not aware of this until a couple of days ago.... The "fee" is the Kaz daily rate for apartment, driver, and translator...it was $170 per day last time we went and now it is $195.00 per day, due to the decline of the US Dollar. yeah, times that by 33-35 and you get the idea of where the ulcer is coming from. ;)

Our boys are excited to finally meet their sister and have her home. They can't wait!

Selah Grace Owens, only 5 more days till we board that plane to come see you!!!

SHOCKING news!

AGHHHHHHHHHHHH....(this is me screaming my head off)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just got the call we have been praying for and waiting for...............

WE HAVE A COURT DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and its only in 12 days from now!

I was in SHOCK! Complete SHOCK!

We WILL get to be with her for her 2nd Birthday after all. 

Thank you GOD!

I fell on my face (literally!) in total thanksgiving to Him for this awesome news!

Frankly, I am STILL in shock.

I have sooooooooooooo much I need to do before we leave in a little over a week from now. (As soon as the tickets are confirmed, I will let you know the day we are leaving)

My in-laws are SO awesome. They are going to come down here and get the boys and drive them back up to NC. And then right before we get back home with Selah, in 4-5 weeks, they will drive the boys back down here, so they and the boys can see their baby sister come home, finally! They are so amazing for making this so easy on us. THANK YOU Cheryl and Keith!!!

Please pray that the paperwork gets done ASAP. I have the Senator's office calling them to tell them I HAVE to have those docs in my hand by the 24th! 

For my local friends, please forgive us for having to cancel and re-arrange things. I know you all understand.

AGH!!!!!!!!!!  We are going to see our daughter!!!!!!!! 

Oh my goodness, I don't think I will sleep ever again!

THANK YOU LORD!!!!!!!!!

God is the judge

And the heavens proclaim his righteousness, 

for God himself is judge. Selah

Psalm 50:6

I am not sure if you all know that "Selah" means "pause and reflect", or "amen".... and is at the end of several verses in the book of Psalms.

Well, one of my friends, Karen, just emailed me this scripture she ran across. 

Could it be more perfect?!?!?  Thank you Lord for this reminder in YOUR WORD!

**sigh**

Have you ever felt your heart literally beat SO HARD that you thought for sure it was going to either stop beating or come right out of your body??? This happened when I picked up the phone today and saw "agci" on the caller id. Of course, it was beating so hard and loud because I was hoping for good news, but it wasn't.

More delays, more postponements.......(can't be very specific on here, but its too complicated to type anyway)

We might know more in a couple of weeks.

We know that God is in control and that His timing is perfect and beyond what we can ever imagine in our little earthly lives. BUT, it sure doesn't mean it comes without tears, frustrations, disappointments, and a saddened spirit. BUT, we keep hanging on to His truth, His love, His comfort, and His timing.

Yet again

My much anticipated call today from the agency was a downer, again. 

When they went down to the courthouse in Kaz today (the day there were supposed to be back open) the courthouse said they were still closed and won't be open until Monday. Sooo, we will now wait for an update on Monday.  

Waiting is VERY hard, and its something we have had to do now for 3 years!  However, the worst part has been since we met our daughter a year ago. Being without your child and not knowing when she will be with you is VERY difficult.  However, the "peace that transcends all understanding" is the ONLY thing getting us through these times.  We just KNOW she will eventually be home, its the not knowing WHEN that is the hardest.

Thank you for praying and please continue when you think of us.

In the meantime, I am enjoying my present blessings of Shane, Seth, and Gage.... while eagerly looking forward to the future blessing of Selah in our home....and in my arms.......forever!

Love,

greta

Why Pray?

What Happens When We Pray?

By Amy Weatherly 

Amy is a dear friend of mine and this was just an email she sent that she felt the Lord telling her to write to me in response to my question on prayer. I want to share this with you in hopes that it reaches you right where you are at in your life.  I am blessed to know and love this woman!

First of all, God is awesome and powerful and is capable of doing whatever He desires with or without the benefit or necessity of our prayers to move Him. In Isaiah, the Bible speaks of God’s sovereignty. “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these” (Is 45:5-7). Also, Deut 32:39 says, “See now that I, I am He, and there is no god besides Me; it is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; and there is no one who can deliver from My hand.” God is unspeakably in control of all that happens in this country, this world, and this universe. I can count on it. It gives me great peace to know that someone besides me is controlling things!! However, it also brings to mind the following question: If God is sovereign, what possible power can my prayer have on a specific course of events? Basically, what good is prayer?

I am by no means the expert in this area, but after studying the word, reading what some great teachers on prayer have to say, and asking God what He wants me to tell you, this is my brief conclusion. Besides the major fact that prayer is commanded by both God and Jesus in the Bible, I believe that prayer has a two-fold purpose. One reason we pray is simply to know God more. I really don’t think we need to know ABOUT Him as much as we need to KNOW Him. I remember meeting a youth pastor once (different city), who was asked “What was your greatest experience at your previous church?” He proceeded to go on and on about the study “Experiencing God.” What was evident, however, is that he had experienced Experiencing God, not God Himself. It was all about the study and nothing about God. Prayer invites us to KNOW God, to converse, to cry, to listen, to praise, to glorify, to be still. We grow to trust God more when we know Him more. I believe that is the most important reason for prayer. We may have a specific agenda in mind, but God’s greatest agenda is just to KNOW Him more, because the reality of this life is that our time on earth is soooooo brief, just a speck of time, a blink of an eye in light of all eternity. And it is in eternity with God which is where we will be spending the large majority of our time. The enemy will try to discourage us and make us think it’s all about the here and now, but I am convinced there is so much more waiting on the other side. God knows that, too, which is why we need to know Him so well…we will be spending our life with Him.

In addition to knowing and trusting God more fully during prayer, I believe the other major reason for prayer is warfare. Even though God is sovereign, I am more convinced than ever, that there is a massive spiritual realm we do not see that exists all around us, in which a battle is constantly being fought. Sometimes, we aren’t even aware of the battle (the enemy is then winning). Sometimes we know something’s just not right but we don’t know why, and other times we sense the battle is at hand and we can run off to fight the enemy. The funny thing about spiritual warfare is that the Bible speaks of the “invisible realm” often and yet most Christians dismiss it as if it only happened “in the Bible times.” When Elisha was surrounded by enemy forces and his servant feared they would be defeated, Elisha prayed “Don’t be afraid…Those who are with us are more than those who are with them…O Lord, open his (the servant’s) eyes so he may see.” Then the Lord allowed the servant to see the previously invisible heavenly host, “the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” (2 Kings 6:16-17) Paul clearly speaks about where our challenges lie in Ephesians 6:10-12 – “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (other people!!), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Spiritual warfare exists whether we choose to believe it or not. Prayer is God’s choice of weaponry for us as Christians, along with the word of God. Praying the word of God, by the way, is the most effective, bottom-line method of releasing God’s power. Remember, Satan has already lost the war. Read the end of the book-we win!! Christ has risen from the dead and with that one act comes an amazing power which can break any of Satan’s strongholds against us!! Stand in the assurance of your already-won victory and pray from that perspective, recognizing God’s power is your source of energy and strength. The combination of knowing God fully, His power, His glory, and His majesty, along with understanding our need for spiritual warfare makes for powerful prayer that can change lives!
For further reading:
Kay Arthur, The Sovereignty of God (a great little pamphlet which completely sums up the subject of God’s sovereignty)
Sylvia Gunter, Prayer Portions (the best book on prayer I have ever had; includes many powerful prayers that are effective and produce amazing results)
Hannah Whitall Smith, The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life (this is an amazing book, but a little difficult to read as it was originally written in the 1800’s – I have a updated version, 1952 – but it is still challenging. Hard to read, but so worth it!!)