Time for an update...and there are a few!

Well, after seeing that it has been over 6 months since my last post, I figured it was about time for a new post!

A lot of things have changed since my last post. For one, in mid-August I received a phone call from my sister-in-law. Her school was looking for a 5th grade teacher due to increased enrollment. This was the opportunity we had been praying for! For the past couple of years I had been working as a high school Spanish teacher, looking for the perfect time to transition into the field of my degree (Elementary Education). So, to make a long story short(er) I interviewed on Monday, and on Wednesday was on my way down to South-Central Iowa to start my new job as 5th grade teacher.

This, of course brought about many changes all at once. For one, we live in NW Iowa, and now a move was on the horizon. This has been an answer to prayer for hubby, Eric, as he was hoping to be located closer to his family. So while he was working to arrange a transfer from his company in southern Minnesota to the plant in Creston, IA, I was living with his sister in West Des Moines, trying to track down temporary housing. (And trying to get my classroom set up and ready for students in a matter of 5 days).

As for the adoption, we had been trying to arrange our first homestudy visit for over 2 months. Now we had to put all of that on hold until we had a home!

A month and a half after starting my new job outside of Des Moines, we managed to paint our house in Spencer, (MUCH thanks to the Stauffer fam on that!), finish the projects on the inside of the house (kudos to Eric for his MANY weekends of work!), pack up and move the contents of this entire house into storage, find and move into an apartment for the year, secure a transfer of employment for Eric, start my teaching job, and arrange the dates for our homestudy.

My basic description, to those crazy enough to ask how things are going, ;) is that we have been sprinting a marathon since August 17th! We are just now beginning to feel like we can slow that down to a good run. We are happy to say that we have completed our homestudy visits. We are awaiting the finalization of our homestudy report, and a few items needed to complete our dossier (the legal paperwork that is sent overseas as our international adoption application package of sorts). Then we begin the waiting game!

In the meantime, we are awaiting the sale of our house back in Spencer, and trying to unpack our new place in the Des Moines area! (Oh, and our elementary school moved to its new building over the Christmas break as well!) These are just a few of the updates! :) We hope to bring you many more updates regarding our transition and our adoption journey in the near future.

I pray you felt the joy of the Spirit this Christmas season, and that the New Year brings you many blessings!

A connection to the book of Mark...

Happy Wednesday to you all!

I have just completed my last day of the 2009-2010 school year and after a long day of inservices came home to quite a surprise! I discovered that an anonymous person (or persons) had graciously bestowed on us a VERY generous gift for our adoption fund, and I'm finding that I am uncertain as to the best way to respond when this happens.

Now, my husband would tell you otherwise. He would tell you that my response has proved consistent both times this has happened: immediate bursting into tears, sobbing and an inability to breathe due to shock and utter amazement! Which is 100% true, I literally cannot catch my breath! But where I struggle is what to do with the graciousness that is being bestowed on us.

I recently finished reading Matthew and am now reading Mark in my daily devotionals, and have come to realize why those healed by Jesus never heeded his instructions to tell no one what He had done. Because they couldn't. They had experienced something that went way beyond healing just their bodies, and the utter overflowing of joy could not be contained. This is how I have felt by the outpouring of those willing to donate their talents, time and financial gifts to us. And I wish to testify to all that God is doing through our adoption journey. Our prayer has been from day one of this journey that through our adoption, that we would not be the end of the journey; that there would be an outpouring so great that we might be able to impact and encourage others wishing to care for orphans. I wish to give God all the glory for every event that takes place in this adoption. Through the small events and the large events God is healing our hearts in ways and places we didn't even know needed healing!

So that is one side of this. The other side is that I always wish to be sensitive to those who are in the process of raising funds for their adoptions. The costs of adoption are daunting to say the least, and people of all means are stepping forward to answer the call of adoption. Fundraising is hard, so I don't wish for people to despair from this post. But I do wish to praise God for showing us in big and small ways that He funds what He favors. So to the little angel or angels who stopped by my house today I say THANK YOU! You are truly making a donation that I firmly believe is going to impact the world in ways that neither you nor I may ever comprehend. From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!

Well, I am looking forward to a few days of cleaning my house (which is in DESPERATE need of a top-to-bottom purging after being on the back burner to paper grading for most of the year) and spending time with the nephews who are visiting this week! I love spending time with them, and hope to post a few pics of them soon! They truly are a blessing to me...I can't imagine life without them. Again, have a great Wednesday!

~Nicole

Wow is all that I have to say...

RADICAL from David Platt on Vimeo.

***Pause the music to watch the video.***

So I saw this video on one of my fellow blogger sites that I regularly follow. Watch it now (if you haven't already) then continue reading. Of course the timeliness of this post was spot on (as usual) as this is an area that I REALLY struggle to relinquish to God. My one dream has always been to have the American Dream. I want the nice big house in the country, where my family gathers for holidays, where the kids bring their friends, where I am the stay-at-home-mom, where we have enough to afford missions trips to far away places AND go on vacations as a family. And I admit that this video is painful for me to see in the way that dirt and gravel being scrubbed from a wound is painfully healing to the body. It forces me to come face-to-face with my acknowledgement that I have not fully surrendered EVERYTHING to my Maker, and that it is what I am being asked, in faith, to do. So please pray for my strength in surrendering ALL, and that God, in His infinite wisdom, would keep providing these reminders to me until it is accomplished in HIS eyes. I don't really want to add too much more to this post. I feel that it speaks for itself, but I do want to add just one last thing for you to ponder now that you have had the opportunity to view the clip. My husband's response after viewing this video was "Wow, that's kind of in your face." to which my response was, "I think that's the point...I think that is why the title is Radical." But I ask you, what was your response? And what should our responses be? Leaving you to ponder. Have a great Memorial Day Sunday everyone.

Nicole

It's in the mail and other updates!

Well, it has again been a while since my last post...for a couple of reasons. It may sound silly, but for the most part I feel like I am talking to myself...not that there is a problem with that (I do that quite often actually), but it makes it hard to know what to write about, since I don't really need to update myself on what's been going on in my life. The other reason is that life (as usual has been SO chaotic here in the last month of school, that it has been hard to find a moment to actually force myself to sit down and type! So just to give you a quick update, I'd started working at a tutoring center, which I had planned to do for the summer to bring in any extra support for our adoption. Then I received notification that another summer job opportunity that I thought had fallen through was being offered to me! Praise God! I think that will be a fantastic opportunity to learn and grow. I will be working as an office assistant basically, for our county Iowa State Extension Office. They work a lot with 4-H and all things agricultural. For those of you out in blog land, the largest (I think we still hold the title for the largest) county fair in the world is housed right in our very own small town of Spencer every September, and the IA Extension Office has quite a BIG responsibility of getting things up and ready for that. So in addition to all of the clerical duties, I will be educating myself on all things Fair-related. Now, even though I grew up in a small-ish mid-western town, and all of my grandparents were farmers, and my husband and his family were farmers, I am NOT a farm gal. I know NOTHING about tending to crops or animals. In fact, my dad thought it would be a good character-enriching experience for us to learn to care for a garden. I HATED IT! I mean, for crying out loud, I had to weed it every day! ;) And if you ask my cousin's Erin and Luke, they will verify that I was CONVINCED one year that my grandpa's sheep had melted like the wicked witch of the east from being too overheated with all of their wool covering. My loving husband (boyfriend at the time) graciously tried to induct me into his family one weekend by asking him to help out with castrating their pigs. His sisters (to my everlasting appreciation) saved me from that horrible, I mean "wonderful", opportunity. So to make a long story even longer (as is often the case with me) I will be learning and growing through this seasonal job experience.

On another note, hopefully soon I will be able to post a blog about the Christian-Alliance-for-Orphans Summit that we attended at the end of April. It was SUCH an exciting and confirming experience for us. There was SO much that we encountered it is hard to know what to blog about first! But that will be coming soon...hopefully after I have completed the four remaining days of school!

And finally, I just wanted make it known that we officially sent in our agency contracts and fee this week! Yea! We've made our next step in the adoption process, and now we will begin the homestudy and training process of our journey. I still am amazed daily by the way God Almighty is shaping our path, and how faithfully He affirms His plan through us. We are excited to finally get moving and focused on this process and can't wait to join our agency listserv to get more aquainted with everyone out there. I love to learn, and I've never been afraid to ask questions or seek out advice. This will be one more resource that will allow me to develop further, and I am very much looking forward to it! Happy Wednesday everyone!

Just an update...

Well, it's been almost a month since my last blog entry, and I figured I better write about what has been happening lately. To be honest life seems SO busy right now that I feel like I'm being distracted from our adoption process, which I do not like. I am anxiously awaiting the end of the school year so that I can begin focusing only on a summer job and adoption and orphan care centered things. Monday we had our first official orientation call with our agency. So basically the step that we are at now is signing the agency contracts and other paperwork, having them notarized (hopefully by my bff klk - it is SO nice to know that there is someone that I know personally who can do this!), and sending them into AGCI (our agency) with our first fee installment. So basically the most difficult part of that is the fee portion, solely because we have been so busy that Eric and I have not even had time to talk to one another about a formal game plan about how to tackle it! We have taken time to brainstorm with each other (and I have brainstormed with my Bible Study gals and a few others...even some of my students (who are also a part of our church youth group) have talked about how they'd like to help...so precious and wonderful! Time is truly my biggest hurdle right now! For those of you out in blog land (however many of you there are at this point) I am a 2nd year teacher. In Iowa this means that I am in the process of completing my "initial" teaching phase, and have to complete a HUGE teaching portfolio at the end of this school year. Then my supervising principal takes a look at it (along with my history as a teacher for the past two years) and recommends me for my permanent teaching license. So I have been working on that, in addition to my daily teaching tasks and student papers. Also, in an effort to save more money for our adoption fund, I have taken on a part time job with a local tutoring center. Needless to say, I'm about to get busier here for the last month of school! But God is faithful and continues to teach me and draw me closer to Him during my daily studies. He continues to break my (and Eric's) heart for the orphan. I recently saw a brief video called "the Orphans of Nkandla" which is in a region of South Africa...absolutely heart WRENCHING! After watching it, it has been my continual prayer that God would teach me how much I truly have (especially in the times when I don't feel like I have the things I "need" to feel comfortable-how utterly pitiful is that?!). It has also been my prayer that God would teach me to live on less, so that those who have NOTHING can receive SOMETHING. I can't do a lot, but God is showing me day by day, the ways that I can use my excess, to help those who are in need. Last Sunday was our church's day of prayer for Turkey...in memory of the three Christians martyred for their faith 2 years ago...in a country where Christianity is less than 1 percent of the population...we have SO much...opportunity, financial blessing, material things, privilege...and elsewhere people have SO little, but in most cases, are still filled with joy...AMAZING. Lord teach me to be more like them. - Nicole

Okay, so I meant to post these earlier, but I couldn't remember how I'd posted the Hannah's Hope video...anyway here are some other videos that prompted us to strike out on advocating for the orphan! Remember to pause my music at the bottom of the page first so you can hear the videos! :)

Amazed...Overwhelmed...Speechless

Well, it has roughly been about 24hours since we heard news that we have been accepted by our adoption agency, All God's Children International (AGCI), and SO much has been happening in that time. My brain has literally been spinning like a web at a thousand million miles an hour in just as many directions! And God is already proving himself faithful in seeing to my every need (which, for the most part are emotional right now!) Not that I didn't know this before, but God has surrounded me with a community of very supportive people (some of whom I've never met in person!) whose love and generosity I cannot even find words to express! For weeks now I have worried and stewed over how this will all come to fruition (and I still am...despite what you will read below...I'm thick-headed). Eric and I do feel called to care for the orphan through adoption, and despite that knowledge I have wrestled continually with doubt since this journey began. What if I'm wrong about what I believe God has called us to, how can this be accomplished, what if people misunderstand the reasons we're doing this, what if we fail, what if they say this, what if they say that, I'm not a good speaker...things come out wrong! Do you think it's coincidence then (I think not) that I have been reading the section of Exodus where Moses, like me, has his own back-and-forth excuse session with God when He calls Moses out of the desert to lead the Israelites out of their bondage and slavery in Egypt? "Who am I that I should go (Ex. 3:11), Suppose I go to the Israelites and... (Ex. 3:13), What if they do not believe me or listen to me... (Ex. 4:1), O Lord I have never been eloquent...(Exodus 4:10)" Needless to say it did not take me very long to see how I fit this scenario. And the conclusion I have come to is this: Like Moses, I'm thick-headed...I battle with doubt (even when I know the truth) and many times I have the faith of a mustard seed...especially with regard to financing an adoption (which seems an insurmountable task). I know that throughout this process I will encounter Pharoahs. There hearts will be hardened toward this calling of ours...they will not get it-the big picture that is, possibly even after countless evidence to the contrary...as some have put it to me, their journey will not be our journey. (I pray that the Pharoahs are few! :) There will be others whose eyes will be opened to something they have never seen or perhaps looked at before...the cause of defending the fatherless. There will be those who question what we are doing and why. And there will be those who answer the call to advocate for the orphan in some way - through prayer, through orphan mission work, through gifts of emotional or financial support to those called to adopt, through donation of time or talent, (to you I say thank you...in advance...you will never know the ripple effect you will have). But the point that someone dear to me made today (with impeccable timing I might add-thanks Kim)...God's plan has already been accomplished. She's right...it's deep. it's profound. it DOES knock my socks off!

Hannah's Hope Ethiopia-A Video That Inspired Us

*** You will have to pause my music at the bottom of the page so the two sounds don't conflict with one another! ***

Navigating the turning of many new corners...

Well, as the post suggests, we are turning some new corners in our life lately...as people new to the world of bloggers AND a new corner (or branch perhaps) in our passion of defending orphans and children in poverty, as we are striking out on the path of international adoptive parenting. I feel it is only right to warn you before you continue, that I tend to be long winded. If you've talked to me for any length of time, this probably doesn't surprise you...but I felt it was only fair to give you a disclaimer...just so ya' know. :)



I can pinpoint the exact date that we started deliberately to pursue God's calling to care for the orphaned and impoverished children of the world (There are so many!). A fellow church member spoke during Compassion International's Orphan Sunday. What began in 2008 as a search for a child we felt drawn to sponsor, ended up in the sponsorship of 3. Two boys, now age 12, from the Dominican Republic and 1 more boy, now age 9, from Ghana. But this is not where our journey began. I can remember with absolute clarity watching videos with my aunt as she and my uncle began their journey of adoption. I cannot express the overwhelming emotions I experienced that day as I wondered how it was possible to know you could only claim one or two orphans to bring home. I felt they had a difficult task ahead of them as they proceeded through their adoption, and my life was forever altered that day as I felt God's prompting to someday pursue adoption. This leading came sooner than I expected...I think there are probably many who, like me, thought that adoption would take place after their own biological children. I have learned, or am learning (again and again) that God's ways are not my ways. :) It takes me awhile sometimes. So EJ and I submitted our paperwork to All God's Children International. We chose them because in addition to adoption, they also have a heart for rescuing and caring for orphan and impoverished children around the world (not just adoption alone). So we are seeking to adopt a child from either Ethiopia or Rwanda. It is a big task, and we are anxious to see how God moves and directs our journey.


You may be wondering why the title of our blog spot is "I sing you 2 me". If you know me at all, you know that I have a passion for movies. This phrase comes from a boy whose character stole my heart in the movie Australia. As a child cast away by his people, Lady Ashley (played by Nicole Kidman) takes Nullah under her wing after his mother dies. When they are separated by the circumstances of an era in Australia that did not acknowledge children of mixed heritage, he assures Lady Ashley that they will find each other again, by stating "I sing you to me." (Tear jerking, I know. :) That phrase carries so much meaning to me. As a future adoptive parent, it speaks to me of our future child(ren) "singing themself/themselves to us and EJ and myself to them. On a grander scale, it speaks to me of God singing himself to us, leading us step by step, note by note, experience by experience, drawing us closer to Him each time that we seek Him. (And believe me, I've been doing that ALOT lately!) :) I have been amazed by the ways He has already shown His leading, in places I least expected it. Although I cannot detect the path's end, I am at peace as he divulges each next step, affirming our direction in little and big ways. So if you don't mind long-winded ramblings and updates, come along on the ride with us! Happy Friday to you all!



NRS