It's Olivia's Day

It is raining today.

 Last year on this day, September 2, 2012, the sky was a brilliant blue, the sun was shining brightly, and white, cottony clouds dotted the blue expanse. We watched two dozen pink and white balloons float up through that blue, "up to Heaven, and to Olivia," as our then four-year-old son announced. It was as if God sent the blue sky, bright sun, and white clouds to tell us that everything was going to be alright, healing would continue to come.

Today, the sky is dark and the rain is coming down in sheets. This is the hardest it has rained in weeks. It feels as if this time, God is crying with us, telling us that it is okay to be sad today--to grieve--and that He bears our sadness with us.

Two years ago today, Olivia Hope Miller entered the world after 38 weeks of life in her mother's womb. Her precious little body, beautifully and perfectly formed, was still. She weighed 5lbs., 11oz., but felt lighter than a feather as she lay in our arms, unmoving, her soft, pale skin so cold to our touch.

Two years later, our lives have moved forward. Though she has gone on to Heaven ahead of us, her brief life here with us is still such a part of who we are as a family and of who each of us is as individuals. Her brothers and sisters, grandparents, and especially her mommy and daddy, have been forever changed by the little girl whose eyes we never saw open and whose voice we never heard.

She was loved and wanted and known by her family. We held her in our arms for such a short time, but we will hold her in our hearts until the day we each meet her again face-to-face and live together forever with our Savior.

This day is a sad one, but it is also one of celebration. Today, we celebrate a precious life, so brief and yet so full of meaning and purpose. God had a plan for Olivia's life, and she lived it out for His glory. Her life has brought healing and her memory brings joy. Though her loss makes us sad, it has also taught us so much about love and sacrifice, joy and sorrow, and about how to have a life lived abundantly for the glory of God.

It may be raining today, but the sun will be shining again and the sky will be a brilliant blue once more. Maybe even tomorrow.

Summertime on the Homestead

Summertime is such a fun time around here. There is always something to do. Everything is green and growing. The animals are happy and well fed. The chickens are laying. When the sun is out, the clothesline is full of clean clothes, flapping away in the breeze.

There is also plenty of work to do. Hay needs to be put in, the garden needs to be weeded, the yard needs to be mowed, the beehives need tending. As the summer progresses, fruits and vegetables must be harvested and preserved. There is always some building project or other going on around here as well.  Busy productivity such as this leads to such a sense of satisfaction. We are truly living a life we once dreamed of and planned for.

We can't help but love the country life!

Progress!

Another important step has been made in our adoption process--our dossier has been sent to D.R. Congo! The dossier is a collection of documents required by the Congolese government to be used in the adoption proceedings. It is a very important step in the process.

Now we wait for the court proceedings to be completed, which will make our little boys officially a part of our family. This should happen within the next three to four months. (After that, the US embassy in DRC does an investigation to be sure that everything is legal, which will take several months. Then, we can go get them and bring them home!)

As has happened at every step in this process, we are faced with raising funds for the next fee on the schedule (which is just over $10,000). Where these funds will come from we have no idea. We are not doubting that God will provide; He has provided throughout this process, and always just what was needed at the time. He has begun this good work in us and in the lives of these little boys, and we trust that He will be faithful to complete it.

(If anyone has any creative fundraising ideas they would like to share, feel free!)

As time goes by and we pray each night for our little ones in Africa, our hearts are becoming more and more knit to them and we find ourselves thinking and talking of them often. They are already becoming a part of our family, even from the other side of the world. We so look forward to the day when we can get on that plane and fly to them, hug them, and tell them we love them and that they will be ours forever. What a precious day that will be!

Great Need in the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is the second largest African nation. Located in central Africa, it is a nation in great need as a result of decades of civil war, political instability, and immense poverty.

D. R. Congo is located in sub-Sahara Africa and is extremely bio-diverse, with many rare and endemic species of animals, such as the common chimpanzee, the bonobo, the African forest elephant, mountain gorilla, okapi and white rhino.  It is also greatly varied in geography and climate. Within the Congolese nation can be found lush rainforests, large plateaus, vast savannas, dense grasslands, and high glacial mountains. The Congolese rainforest is the second largest in the world. The nation itself is named after the Congo River, which snakes through the country and is one of the world's longest rivers. 

The Congolese people have a rich and interesting cultural heritage. They are known for their very distinct musical style as well as their traditional art.

Although one of the most poverty-stricken nations in the world, D.R. Congo is one of the richest nations in terms of natural resources such as diamonds, cobalt, and other minerals. Control over these natural resources has been the cause of much of the civil unrest within the nation in recent years. DRC is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world for women and children. Abuse against women and children (in all forms) is common.

In recent years, efforts are being made to bring stability to the political climate in the DRC. As a developing (or third-world) country, there is very little infrastructure in the way of roads and access to much of the rural areas is limited.

There are an estimated 5 million orphans in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These children are orphaned because of war, famine, poverty, and diseases such as malaria. Many of these orphans will loose their own lives as well. The ones who make it into the orphanages are the blessed ones. Orphanages are privately run, many by churches or other Christian organizations.

Our hearts yearn to help those in need in this country. One very small way our family can do this is through bringing two little orphaned children into our home and loving them as our own. As we learn more about this country which our little boys are coming from, we are filled with compassion for the people of the Congo. These people need the prayers and help of God's people. The orphans of this country need an advocate. The women of this country need a voice to cry out for them.

God is calling--will we answer His call?

No, There's No News...

Our internet has been rather unreliable as of late, and so we have been unable to do much online. We have, at the very least, been able to check our email. Updating the blog has not been the highest item on the list of things that need the limited amount of internet time we have had. In consequence, it's been quiet around here for the last couple of weeks.

I have been asked often over the past several days, and by many different people, if there is anything new going on. I'm not sure what is prompting this particular question from this many people, but I have had to answer "no" to all. We have no news to report.

Yes, our garden is planted and yes, it has been raining constantly for days, and yes, we are still plugging away at our schoolwork, trying to finish up for the year, but no, we have no news.

As far as the adoption goes, which is what I think most folks have in mind when asking this question, we are still collecting the necessary documents for our dossier. We need to have one particular document authenticated, which requires sending it to three different government offices to have official seals affixed to it, which involves time and a lot of visits to the post office. We hope to have all our documents prepared and sent to our adoption agency within the next couple of weeks. After that, the dossier will be sent to the Congo and we will wait for our court date for the official adoption proceedings.

So, when we do have news, we'll be sure to let you know.

Abundant Adoption Blessings

We have more news about our adoption. This time, though, it is very good news! In changing countries from Ghana to the Democratic Republic of Congo, we had some concerns, the added cost of adopting from DRC being a major one. It also saddened us to leave behind the idea of adopting the precious sibling pair we had been matched with. However, God in His sovereignty had all of this worked out for our good and His glory.

First, though we still think of the two little ones in Ghana we had at one time thought would be joining our family, we know that they are in His hands and we rest in the knowledge that He has a plan for their lives as well. He has instead lead us to a pair of little boys, brothers around the ages of 2 and 4. These little guys are in need of a mommy and daddy and it appears that God is calling us to fulfill that role for them. We are so thankful for the opportunity to adopt a sibling group--and a pair of brothers at that! Sibling groups, children older than the age of 3, and boys in general often do not find adoptive families. God has been so good to allow us the chance to take these boys into our home and love them as our own.

We are preparing to formally accept the referral for these boys tomorrow. The first fee due at this time to the adoption agency for the adoption of these children is $12,300. On the day we received the official referral (last Friday), the amount of money we had raised was....$12,400! Isn't God amazing? This past week, through so many situations, God has reminded us that He is in control of this process and that we can put our full trust in Him, knowing that He will do what is best for us and for our children (both here with us and in Africa), and that He will be glorified through this.

His name be praised!

Please continue to pray for our family as we proceed. Our next step is to assemble our dossier, a packet of documents that will be send to the Congolese government. Our next fee of $11,800 will be due at that time. (We are sharing the exact financial information with you in hopes of being an encouragement to others considering adoption. The cost was one major reason we waited for three years before finally beginning the process to adopt. But we can see now that God is providing as it is needed and we hope to show others that as well.)

We are thankful for the blessings He has showered on us this week and trust His hand to continue to be upon us as we proceed through this adoption.

An Eventful Week--Adoption Journey Update

We have had a very eventful week in regards to our adoption. Early in the week, we received the news that the government in Ghana has suspended all international adoptions. This news was extremely disheartening to say the least. The two little ones we were planning to adopt will not be joining our family after all. We are grieved over this fact, but we also know that God is sovereign over all aspects of this process, and we trust His will to be accomplished.

We began looking into other options before us. In addition to their Ghana program, our placement agency has a program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Interestingly, Congo (also commonly called DRC) was our first choice of country, however when our agency presented us with the profile of the two siblings in Ghana, we felt a connection with them and decided to pursue adoption from Ghana. God does not make mistakes, and there is a reason for our interest in both the Congo and Ghana. There is also a reason for the suspension of adoptions in Ghana. God is directing this process, and we will follow His leading wherever it takes us. We know He will bring just the right children into our home at just the right time and from just the right place.

Along with that news and the subsequent emotional and mental adjustment which has followed, we also received the news that our homestudy is complete and has been approved. This is a very big step and it is such a blessing to have completed this particular step in the overall adoption process.

Another exciting threshold was reached this week as we hit the $10,000 mark in our fundraising efforts. Through some generous gifts, sales of several larger items, and a yard sale just today, God has provided this amount, and we continue to trust that He will bring in the rest of what we need. However, one aspect of the change of country that is particularly disappointing is the fact that adoption from the Congo costs a considerable amount more than from Ghana. Because of this fact, we will most likely be adopting only one child instead of the two we had hoped to be able to adopt. God can do miracles, of course, and if He wants us to have two little ones from Africa, He will send the funds we need.

The amount we would need for the adoption of two children from the Congo would be closer to $50,000. Yes, you read that right. That's a lot of money, isn't it? Again, we trust that God will provide what we need to accomplish what He has in mind in this, but we also want to be wise and to step out in faith only as He leads. We need much prayer for wisdom in this regard.

Over the next few weeks, we plan to share some aspects of life in the Congo that particularly made an impression on us as we were researching options of countries from which to adopt. As one of the most poverty stricken nations in the world--a country torn by war and civil unrest--it is a very needy part of the world. There are many children orphaned by war, the AIDS crisis, and extreme poverty. Many children die of diseases like malaria and typhoid. God has touched our hearts for the people of the Congo.

As our eventful week comes to an end, we see that God's hand is in all of the events which have taken place. He will bring his purposes to pass, and we can rest in the knowledge that He means it all for our good and for His glory.

This adoption journey sure has been exciting, and it's barely just begun!