Happy Woman

Look at that smile! If I told you that her life is in danger every day as she commutes to work, would you believe it? If I told you that she has to hear stories of children sacrificed to the devil on a regular basis, would you guess that? If I told you that she's seen babies come into the orphanage with bite marks from wild animals after being left for dead, would you wonder how she can still smile? Madame Gaston has seen things that we Americans can't fathom, yet look at that smile! That is what Jesus in our hearts should look like. I learn so much from the simple life of one woman in Haiti.

Madame Gaston

This is a picture of Madame Gaston, our boys' primary nanny. I don't think I've ever met someone more filled with Christ's love. She loves all the children at the orphanage and takes care of babies. She loves to sing to the babies and get them smiling and bouncing. When we visited in November we watched her sing "Alleluia" to the babies as she would clap her hands and jump up and down. The babies love it and many of them sing Alleluia right back to her as they clap their hands and bounce. I can't tell you how precious it is to hear a baby say Alleluia.

The Boys with Madame Gaston

This is a picture of our boys with their nanny, Madame Gaston. They absolutely love her, and she loves them so much. Samuel is on the left in her lap and Noah is on the right. This picture was taken in the baby room at the orphanage in November.

How You Can Help

We are often asked if we need help with our adoption. The answer is YES!! Prayer is the thing we need most. It is so important that we lift our adoption up in prayer daily. We want God's hand directing our paperwork every step of the way! We would also love to have people praying daily for our boys to be safe, healthy, and to feel our presence and love as if they were already home with us.

Another way to help is through financial support. Adoption is expensive. We have raised a lot of money, but we've also accumulated debt due to our adoption. We have teamed up with a wonderful organization called Kingdom Kids Adoption Ministry. They do all sorts of things to help out orphans and adopting families. They are set up to receive tax deductible financial contributions on behalf of families. If you'd like to support us financially, you can do so online at:

http://www.kingdomkidsadoption.com/Default.aspx?tabid=58&List=1&ProductID=17&CategoryID=4&Level=1

Just follow their directions, being sure to include our name in the special instructions field. Check out the rest of the KKAM website, too. They are great people who are really making a difference for orphans.

By far, the very best way you could bless us would be if you were inspired to adopt. There are so many children in this world that don't have families to love them. Adoption may seem big, scary, and expensive - but take our word, God will provide in every way if you step out in faith.

Our Orphanage in the News - Again!

The news in Colorado Springs did another story on our Orphanage Director and her family. Check it out:

http://krdo.com/story.cfm?nav=news&storyID=1724#

There are many financial needs at the orphanage right now. Medical bills from the sick babies in November have come in and also Haitian law requires Christmas bonuses for the staff at the orphanage. It's thousands of dollars all together. If you feel led to give, please contact our Director, Linda Kohn, through the website: www.forhisgloryao.org.

Good News from our Orphanage

This week has been a very joyfilled week for families adopting from our orphange. We had 9 dossiers (adoption paperwork files) released from IBESR this week. 8 of them were released today! Praise God!! I'm so excited for all the families. What a wonderful Christmas gift - to know that their children are through a very important (and long!!) step in the process of adopting from Haiti.

So, you ask, what does that mean for us? Well, it means we are getting closer! I'm not sure how many dossiers are ahead of ours, but I don't think it's many!!

I would love to hear next week that we are out of IBESR, and I know God can totally do it, but I also know that this whole adoption is to happen in His perfect timing. So, if it's not next week we won't be crushed.

That's all for now!

Samuel

Noah

First Pictures

It has been a while since I've posted, so I figured I would add some more photos. These are the first pictures we received of the boys. I'm not sure of the exact date these photos were taken, but we got these pictures on January 17th when the boys were 10 weeks old. It is hard to believe how much they've grown and blossomed since January. It's sad to think of all the milestones we've missed since January, and I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend with them in July (with Chuck too) and in November. Sometimes it feels like they will never come home. A lady in our orphanage's Yahoo group recently reminded me that the Lord will restore what the locusts destroyed (Joel 2:25). So yes, God will restore the time that we've missed out on. I believe that. I'm not sure how, but I believe that is true.

Boys' Bedroom

Well, it's official, the boys have a bedroom! Last Saturday Chuck and our friend Shaun put together the cribs and moved all the furniture into the boys' room. We had been waiting to put the room together because we'd like to paint clouds on the ceiling, but we decided to go ahead and put the room together. If we're supposed to have clouds in there, it will happen.

We're not going with much of a theme - just pastel blue and green and baby animals. After all, they won't be babies for long. We still need to get curtains and a big rug for the floor, but it's coming together. I haven't done so yet, but I think I will begin praying for them in there.

We've been given SOOOO many clothes. It's just wonderful how God moves through people to supply our needs. All of the furniture in the boys' room (plus a great big dresser that doesn't fit) was given to us by friends at church. My sister through a shower for me back in August, and we have tons of supplies for the boys - towels, wash clothes, medicine, books, blankets and more blankets, bathtub toys, regular toys, and the list goes on!

The next time I find myself doubting God's provision, I'll just walk into that room and know that He really does supply all that we need!