Worth the Wait

I forgot to post about this last week, but we went to our first Bethany support group meeting last Tues.  It was really good and we enjoyed it.  It was for those going through the domestic adoption process so it was nice to have others to relate to.  Everyone was super nice too and seemed to be going through lots of the same things we had or are going though. 

I know this is going to sound weird, but I'm really enjoying the waiting.  This is the most growing I've done in my Christian life - EVER!  I am truly enjoying all the lessons He is teaching me each day.  I want to learn more!  I want to keep learning and growing so that I can be more prepared for our child.  But not just for our child, but for everyone I come into contact with.  I want to be able to witness to others and share the amazing things God can show you and His amazing love. 

BUT as much as I'm enjoying the wait, I'm still longing to meet our child.  I can't wait to hold them in my arms and to watch Doug make his silly faces trying to get them to smile.  I know that God wants the desires of our hearts to be fulfilled if those desires will glorify Him or help bring others to have faith in Christ.  And that's what we want so I know that someday, I'll get to decorate a baby's room, read bedtime stories to my toddler, take my child to their first school dance, and watch my teenager graduate from high school and off to college.  But until that day, I'll enjoy my beautiful nieces and all the other wonderful children we have in our lives and try to be examples for them. 

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.  James 1:4

Discovering the book of James

This is a little random, but I just wanted to take a moment to share with everyone that if you haven't done Beth Moore's study of the book of James, or any study of James for that matter, I would highly recommend it.  I'm learning so much about James, the half brother of Jesus, and really enjoying studying his words.  I have only done a few bible studies, so I don't have much to compare to, but I am loving Beth Moore.  I love to learn so I am really enjoying dissecting His word with her. 

As a side note...we also had a great sermon at church this morning.  I realized that I am still a "baby" Christian.  Even though I was saved at age 9, I really haven't felt the presence of God in my life until the last 2 or 3 years.  But that's probably because I wasn't searching for him.  It really wasn't until we faced infertility that I realized I needed my Father.  I couldn't face this "trial" without Him.  Ugh...I get goosebumps when I sit back and can see how God has orchestrated my life thus far.  I just pray that my child knows someday that I thank God for our infertility.  I don't want him/her to ever think that they are a last resort.  Adoption was always God's plan for us.  He has such a magnificent plan for each of our lives...including our child.  To kind of go along with Bethany Christian Services motto...God is not finding a child for us...he's finding us and preparing us for a child.  I just hope and pray that I can bring that child up to know the Lord and prepare him/her to face persecutions from non-Christians and stand up for their beliefs. 

Anyway, I strayed from my original thought (as usual :)  ) I just wanted to share my excitement of the study of the book of James.  Hope everyone has a great week.  Praise God for the rain and some heat relief!

In God's Time

Waiting, praying, hoping...that's the answer I would give you if you wanted to know how our adoption process was coming along.  The end of July it will have been a year that we've been waiting.  Honestly, it's flown by and I'm so grateful.  I prayed and prayed for patience and the Lord has definitely given that to me.  Of course having a child is on my mind many times throughout the day, but ironically, instead of thinking "I wish this would hurry up"  I'm thinking, "I'm so not prepared and I still have a lot to do". 

We got our first piece of furniture for the baby's room...a glider (like a rocking chair).  It was actually Doug's great grandparents glider and we decided we would take it since they're expensive and it will be nice to have something that was once a part of Doug's great grandparents home.  We're going to get it reupholstered once we know how we'll be decorating but until now, it's just sitting in the spare bedroom.  When we did our training they said some adoptive parents would go ahead and decorate a baby's room and others would wait.  They said some wanted to wait due to it would be too heart breaking to walk past an empty room knowing there was still no child and no toys to fill the room.  We chose not to, only because we don't know what we're having...boy...girl...so there's no sense in decorating just yet.  However, I do see now how hard it would be to have a room already decorated.  I walk past that spare room and see that chair and I know what it's intended for.  My heart does ache just a little when I see it. 

I heard an amazing song tonight (thanks to my wonderful husband who actually heard it first).  It is called "In God's Time" by Randy Houser.  It is about something I have learned all too well in the past 6 years...everything is in His time and I am so thankful for that.  If things always went my way and happened when I wanted them to, I would still be a lost soul and my relationship with Him would be little to nothing.  Praise God for His amazing grace and mercy and the patience He has shown to me.  I'm a poor and worthless sinner, yet He still chooses to bless my life abundantly.  I've attached a link to the song.  I hope that if you are reading this and are struggling with what feels like a hopeless situation or just going through a tough time...just listen to the chorus.

"In God's Time"
http://youtu.be/71nKSAkvRos

Our Profile is Available Nationwide!

It's official, our profile is now on Bethany Christian Services website!  This means that a birth mother from any state in the U.S. can view our profile, not just those in our region.  We hope that if there is a birth mother out there that needs us, that this makes it easier for her to find us.  We're continuing to pray hard and our faith grows stronger each day.  For those that are praying for us, we can't thank you enough.  It means so much to have the love and support of friends and family.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend. 

Love,
Andrea

Mary Kay Party

A friend has offered to give a Mary Kay party and give a portion of the proceeds to Doug and I for our adoption fund!  How thoughtful and generous!

**Mary Kay Party**
Bayles Home
12/5/2011
6:30PM
Food and refreshments provided.  Come out and have a good time and check out some wonderful products!

Also, don't forget to check out the Bayles Family coffee shop!
www.justlovecoffee.com/baylesfamily

God is so good!  Hope every is getting excited about Christmas.  I know I am.  I love spending time with family and friends.

Check out our coffee shop!

http://www.justlovecoffee.com/baylesfamily

God's Blessings

Of course God has blessed mine and Doug's lives in so many ways.  But I have really become aware of these blessings recently.  In big ways or small, our Father is working in our lives and showing us how much He loves us.

As you know, adoption is not exactly cheap.  Unfortunately, it's quite expensive.  But the Lord has somehow always provided the money we've needed so far.  And just recently, over the past week we've had two big expenses that have miraculously been avoided.  Not that it's that interesting to anyone reading this, but one was the lighting in our bedrooms.  We thought we were going to have to have an electrician come out and fix them...turns out, it was just the light bulbs we were using.  We tried some different bulbs and they worked!  The other, was a tire pressure sensor in my car.  The light for the sensor has been on for some time in my car and the mechanics had told us we would have to have the sensor replaced and it could be pretty costly.  To my surprise today, I noticed the light was off!  All it needed was air in the tires...the light was on because the tire pressure was low (imagine that)!

Those are just some recent examples.  Another was earlier this spring.  Our roof desperately needed to be replaced.  Not because of any real storm damage, but just because a new one was well over due.  We were really worried our insurance wouldn't cover it, but we decided to try anyway.  The Lord heard our prayers and thankfully, insurance covered the majority.  We had to pay next to nothing for a new roof. 

These are just more examples of how I feel God's love and support for our decision to adopt.  We realize that adoption is not for everyone, but we have no doubt that this is the path he wanted us to take.  He  continues to provide for us financially and continues to work in our lives. 

Just wanted to share...have a great week!  So glad it's fall and we're enjoying the beautiful weather!

Love you all,
Andrea