We met Maggie...well via picture that is

Okay....today was THE day and I mean seriously THE day.  I don't have any idea how we went from #6 to #1 in a matter of days....but it happened.

Labor is easy peasy compared to waiting for your husband to get to where you are at so that you can conference in your adoption agency and get the referral picture......

(Side note:  Praise God for my friends who may have witnessed a mental breakdown....I lose it from time to time)

We can't show her picture to you because of child laws and I will totally respect that (cause let's face it - this girl isn't cut out for prison)  but let me tell you....she is honestly BEAUTIFUL!  truly.  I know that for months that I have prayed that we would all see her through God's eyes and not our own...but come on!  the kid is beautiful!

So, here we are.  We now know her face.......and her birth name.....and her history (somewhat) and well here we are.,,overwhelmed, excited, scared and overjoyed with what our future holds.

My good pal, Carol Bartholomai found this while reading a book that she 'found' (in fact she said it literally jumped into her hands) from off of our pastor's shelf last week while cleaning.....This little excerpt is from a sermon from C.H. Spurgeon, titled, 'THE BELIEVER NOT AN ORPHAN'.  It kinda sums up some things......

"There is one point in which the orphan is often sorrowfully reminded of his orphanhood, namely,  in lacking a defender. It is so natural in a little child, when some big boys bully him, to cry, “I’ll tell my father!” How often did we use to say so, and how often have we heard from the little ones since, “I’ll tell Mother!” Sometimes, the not being able to do this is a much severer loss than we can guess.

Had the father been there, the child would have had its rights, scarcely would any have dared to infringe them. But, in the absence of the father, the orphan is eaten up like bread and the wicked of the earth devour his estate." 

It looks like from her records that Maggie's biological parents are deceased......praise God that she will not live life without a defender.  You better believe if some little snot nosed kid says something to my baby girl.....heads will roll.  Mama Bear will be there....

Well...it's that time

I guess you want to know, right?

well...before I give our number away... I wanted to share something I just read with you.  I don't have lots of free time to read blogs and just play on the internet.....but tonight, I sat down to Jen Hatmaker (thanks Tammi for the link) and well...it really is greatness.  If you want to check out her blog just click 'here'

Here is something I took from a blog post she has:

As for me, I’m going to move with the movers.
When it is all said and done, when my grandchildren read about Joseph Kony and eleven-year-old sex slaves in Haiti and children sleeping on the streets in Ethiopia and foster kids in their fifteen home, and they say, “What did you do about all these tragedies?”
I am not going to say, “Well, I didn’t want to be labeled a white supremacist, so I wrote mean blogs about folks who threw their hat in the ring.”
I am not going to say, “It was complicated. So I didn’t do anything.”
I am not going to say, “People were extremely critical back then. It was PR suicide to engage difficult issues. I remained troubled but silent on the sidelines. I cared in my mind.”
I am not going to say, “I researched and debated and read a lot of books and articles. I was very, very informed. Believe me, I understood the issues. I waxed very poetic about it all.”
I hope to say, “I joined the fight, because justice denied anywhere means justice denied everywhere. I jumped in, imperfectly, even though I knew critics would come out of the woodwork, questioning my motives and methods and ignorance and intentions. I decided to use my voice and my resources, because that could be my daughter and my sister and my community. That mother is me. Those children are you. I didn’t get it perfectly right. I couldn't address it all. I couldn't even address the entire scope of one problem. I didn’t change the whole world. But I moved.”
May we not move foolishly.
Or arrogantly.
Or rashly.
Or naively.
But may we move.

amen sista!

So my sweet, dear friends.....may you move.  I can't say how you should move or what you should do- that is between you and our Lord.....but you CAN do something.  

May I be blunt with you for a moment?  I grew up in Holy Cross, Ky.  Never heard of it, huh?  I'm not surprised.  It's no man's land...literally.  If you know me - then you know how incredibly inept I am in most things.  It took a lot of prayer and A LOT of faith to get off my tushy and move....but I am moving.

I am still scared....REALLY scared, but I am more scared to spend the rest of my days conforming to this world......the expectations of what I should have (i.e. living a life full of more consumerism versus depriving myself of things (vacations, nice purses or shoes, etc) to bring a child into our home.  

I am a people pleaser - I don't want to upset anyone or put a little ripple in the water....seriously....it pains me to do it.....but for Maggie, Ethan and Reagan - I will. EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.

I will defend my children.  I will love my children.  I will provide food, clothes and shelter.  I will bring Maggie into our home - a child that has no biological, cultural or any other kind of connection with me (us)...not because of who I am but because of who our God is.  Some people still don't understand...I don't either to be honest.  I do know I have changed and my life has changed and though it is not required from me....i want to be a living example.  

This Easter Season I am reminded at my core that God sent His Son for me.  This man without sin bore mine and yours so that we may have everlasting life.  Who am I to say this world is more, stuff means more or that my comfort means more...

I can't do that.  

My heart hurts because I have a child that is out there waiting for me...waiting for parents and a family. Soon we will be blessed with our girl.  

Thanks for everyone that has kept us in prayer.  Thanks for your love and support.  

We are now #6.  :)  

Last but not least a video...

Thanks Dwan for the video!

I gotta tell you....

When my Ethan saw this video.....he said with sweet, precious tears...'Momma, we should get three kids....'

It.completely.breaks.your.heart.

Warning....this is tough

   

The Monthly Update...

I know, I know....I have really fallen off the wagon as far as blogging....sorry for that.

BUT in my defense this really started as a way to record our journey of adoption.  I have prayed that maybe it would inspire someone like some good ol' friends did with me....(Thanks Matthew, Sarah, Jason and Amanda!) or maybe to help someone see that there is a big world out there and God told us to go out there in His name......all of this while being honest with my fears - situations, etc.

So, now that I have rambled on and on.....are you ready for our monthly update.......
here you go...
!

 I know, I know....no big movement there......with the email that we received it also said - even though it seems that things are moving slow our agency has had 6 children who have been matched with their forever families!  That's big news.....and good news....(the reason our number may not have changed much is they may have been a number further back than us - older children, special needs, etc)  So....all is well and we are so glad that 6 lil' ones have found their place with a family!!!!  Big stuff there and I can't get upset about that!

speaking of my ol' friends Amanda and Jason - there is so much more to life with your child than the homecoming at the airport....but I tell you what, the airport videos make me cry....and well....come on that lil' girl is C-U-T-E! 


Bringing Macy Home from amanda humphrey on Vimeo.


But like I said - adoption isn't the moment when you get off the plane or walk out of the hospital, court room or wherever you get your child from.....It's in life.  It is in living.....and if you need a reminder of this....here is that lil' family now..... 

So this lil' Runner family is going to patiently wait for that time....and well let's face it - I still have time to learn how to braid hair :) 

Chugga....Chugga....Choo-Choo!

Around here we are kinda feelin' like the lil' train that could....

Chugga...Chugga....Choo-Choo!

We got word from our adoption agency today about where we stand on this "list"

So this evening I told the kids where we were and they got all kinds of crazy excited....which helps me realize that we are moving and we are making progress (cause I kinda say where we are in an Eeyore-ish kinda way....and they say it in the best high pitched, "YAY! Maggie is almost here" kinda way.) 

So without further ado.......here it is....

So here we are....Numero Nueve.....

Sooner rather than later we will be the parents of three kiddos.....Wowza....

And well since sometimes we get kinda caught up in what number WE (as in The Runner Family)  are.....thought I would share this video from an amazing organization, Ordinary Hero and maybe you could consider what number you could be.....domestically or internationally, children are everywhere that need your help. 

Ordinary Hero~ The Orphan from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.


Freaking out!

Okay......there is nothing that I like more than a microphone in my hand...seriously.  An audience, a microphone.....people that are just listening to me.....I love it.....well....

I love it in theory.  Now that I am smack dab at looking at standing on stage with said microphone and audience....I am freakin' out! 

I am going to stand up and talk about Maggie's Hope.  Maggie's Hope is what two (technically five) friends and I essentially created to help fund not just our (and by our I mean Eric and I) adoption but others....easy peasy, right?

Not so much. I have to say how God has been proven through this....That's not really hard cause seriously come on....I don't have mad crafting skills yet somehow I and my friends had a craft fair booth that was successful....I mean FOR REAL SUCESSFUL.   Is that me?  good googly moogly - we all know that it isn't because of what we did.....God did that. 

You know what else God did....on the Saturday of the Bardstown Arts and Crafts Fair some friends said to me, "You should look into making this a 501(c)3.....I said...sure.  I'll do that...

(we all knew that if it was dependent on me - that the likelihood of it happening is zilch) 

God knows.  And he sent someone special to really take it to the next level.....

My friend, Dwight....he ran with it......and well right now...we are waiting to see where it will go as a designated fund (not so much as a 501(c3).  It is so amazing.....It's not me. It's not Dwight. It's Him. 

Why else would busy women such as; Mikila, Lee Ann, Christy and my momma offer to help (donating their precious time and money) to get our booth up to standard and par......

Why would a man that has a career, three kids, beautiful wife and a million other things going on offer to work on a designated fund?

Are you ready....it's not mind boggling.....well, maybe it is. 

Yep, it's the big G-O-D. 

I'm going to sound a little more eloquent and hopefully a little more sophisticated but essentially this is it.  People came together not to just help me.....but to start something.....to start something bigger than us.  To help others think outside of the box.  If you are open to adoption and the financial part scares you (cause seriously if you look at the financial figures it can)  maybe someday soon - you can say...'Maggie's Hope helped me move forward in the adoption of our child.'

How crazy is that?  I will tell you - it is the big G-O-D crazy - that's what.

Update!

Well, last week we got our monthly update on the waiting list for our baby girl......

drumroll please......



What's that.....12?????  What????

BOOO!!!!!

Seriously big ol' BOO!!!!!!

so after a week of pouting.....which I have done - don't worry though, you wouldn't know that I was pouting, I generally keep it to myself.  And.....you are welcome for that....can you imagine if I pouted outloud?  Let me tell you - it ain't pretty people. 

Those who know me know that I am somewhat of an outgoing personality....I try to reel myself in but it's REALLY hard.  However, I do have a very quiet, reflective side.  (how many people just fell over?) 

but it's true, I do.  So this past week I reflected on things ALOT.  What I remembered is:

1.  No one told me this was going to be easy
2.  No one said, "Hey, Fran this is all in your timing and what you want."

and what I learned is....
1.  I REALLY want things to be easy!  Seriously, I want it to be REALLY, REALLY easy.....(I know - you would've thought I could have at least have learned that one by now.) 
2.  I want it to be my timing!  Why can't it be my timing!!!  Come on God....I know you got her picked out for us.  I know that the child that is meant to be in our family is in the world......CAN'T YOU JUST MAKE HER COME HOME!!!!  It makes perfect sense to me.....it makes perfect sense to everyone around me.....What is taking so long???

As I go through this.....our pastor continues to get on my nerves - cause what does he preach on?.....

yep...James...seriously? 

*Side note:  (our pastor's name is James - so it's funny - James on James (okay, maybe just funny to me but I giggle internally everytime he says, "So what James is trying to tell us is....")

We have spent three weeks in Chapter 1....and what does he spend time talking about?  How in faith, in those times where we don't understand God's plan instead of losing faith and blaming God as if He somehow messed this up - it is simply resting in....God, I don't see Your plan here.....but help me see it. 

Wow....really.....it's that simple?

There are moments where I don't see it God.  I don't see why we don't have her picture.  I don't understand why we aren't on our way back home with her figuring out our new world together as a family of five.  But help me see.......

There may be things that Maggie is experiencing that will be developing her into who she is supposed to be.  There may be things that Eric and I are experiencing or waiting to experience to give us a capability or the skill to handle a situation that we may have otherwise not have known.....Ethan and Reagan may be growing and learning things......Who knows?  God knows.  And I will trust and I will rest in that, hard as it is, cause I would much rather have this whole adoption thing behind us and be a family......just sayin'.   

**Side note #2 - He did preach on the whole orphan and widow thing this week - thought to myself before he started, "I got this one."  Don't you know he had to go all Karate Kid and throw a punch in there I wasn't seeing....let's just leave it that he challenged me.  I'm good with helping orphans....I'm good with helping widows....but really those needy folk in between......really?  If you are interested, check it out here.....://vimeo.com/35134462http

(PS he doesn't give me any kickbacks for referring anyone to view his sermons)  :)