Some rambling here ;)

We are getting closer each day to bringing our little boys home forever.  People want to know WHEN?!  I wish that was an easy answer, but truthfully I have no idea.  In previous years people typically wait 4-6 months between the first trip and the GOTCHA trip, BUT....this is an election year and there is a new Minister of Justice (MOJ).  Between a government resignation early in the year, elections, a new government, and waiting for the new govt to assign their cabinet very little signatures have been written to approve adoptions over the last several months.  They will be very backlogged in addition to the fact that many professionals in Europe take 4-6 weeks off for holidays in August and September.  Right now I am hoping we can have our little men home in time for Christmas and before the year 2014.

Now for a confession.  Adoption is expensive.  I know all of you are really surprised by this *wink*.
It's not because you are paying for a child, it's because you have (in the case of international adoption) two governments you have to go through, lots of legal documents to be authenticated and notarized, then translated, and then travel.  For the program we are going through we are required to travel twice.  I don't understand why it is set up this way, as that makes it so much harder for the parents, but especially for the children who learn they have a family for the first time and then are "abandoned" once more for 6 months.  Do you remember how long 6 months was when you were 5? It might as well have been an eternity!
When we started our adoption, I might as well tell you, we didn't have $30,000+ sitting in our savings account waiting for something to come along that we could give it to or spend it on.  I won't tell you how little we ACTUALLY had, but I will tell you that when people say "You have to be rich to adopt" I LAUGH!  Now, I WILL say that you HAVE to be called by God to adopt.  We now sit $7000 short of being fully funded to bring our boys home as soon as the judge says "jump".  I am in absolute amazement at how God has provided so much.  I KNOW that had He not called us to adopt or if we were adopting out of a feeling of obligation or guilt we would not have been able to come so far.

Ok, another confession. I was grumbling the other day in my heart (Oh how I would have wandered in the desert) at the different perspective of "pinching pennies."  BUT, I was utterly convicted by my Heavenly Father, Who thankfully has not given up on me yet, when a still small voice reminded me of the parable of workers in the Vineyard:

Matthew 20:1-16

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius^[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ ⁵ So they went.
“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’
⁷ “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.
“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’
⁸ “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’
⁹ “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’
¹³ “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’


How can I grumble about how God chooses to provide for others?  He has said that He will provide for Elliott and Lance and that is enough.  If He chooses to provide quicker or more abundantly for another family in need what is that to me?  If anything we should be rejoicing at God's abundant grace!

Sadly, not a week later I was panicking in my heart and thinking "maybe I should apply for an adoption loan or a credit card, in case we don't have the full amount we need to bring the boys home." Oh my goodness, how God draws us nearer to Him when we obey Him -  I heard once more a still small voice reminding me that this was what HE called us to and that for ME to go into debt for this is showing a lack of faith in what HE has said He will provide for. (NOT AT ALL that I am saying it is wrong for others to apply for these kinds of loans! - I am saying that it would be disobedience for ME because I have been told  very clearly that this is NOT how God wants to provide for OUR adoption)  Anyway,  I repent to God for my unbelief "LORD! I believe, help my unbelief" and I gratefully step onward excited to see what God will do!

Thanks for bearing with me on this one...I'm sure it is full of errors and I KNOW I rambled here, but these are things I wanted to share with those of you who might be considering adoption or just need a little encouragement - God provides ALWAYS and in His perfect timing.

When God leads

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I have mentioned before that my heart for abandoned children in Eastern Europe began when I went on a trip to Romania 11 years ago.   Here are the details of how God ordained that trip...stay with me here this is a relevant post I assure you!

At 18 I was attending a local college on a 4 year full ride scholarship and like many other 18 year olds, I wasn't at all sure what I really wanted to major in.   One of the requirements of my scholarship was that I earn a certain number of community service hours, which I chose to earn volunteering at the crisis pregnancy center.  I volunteered one day per week and chose to major in Accounting while I worked part time at Gymboree.  I spent what little money I earned on clothes for my nephew and niece and the rest on gas, car insurance, and books. (Oh the life of a college student, eh?) One Friday afternoon in January I learned from the director of the Pregnancy Center that she and a small group of women were going on a mission trip to Romania.  "Oh, that's so great! I've always had a heart for Romania and would love to go one day."   They were going to be volunteering at a hospital in Bucharest caring for the abandoned children.  Bathing, feeding, rocking, and mostly being the hands and feet of Jesus to these children who otherwise would never be held or looked at or removed from their cribs.  Along with the news of this trip was an opportunity for one more person to go, but they had to let the leader know by Monday if they were going to go the 15 of  March.

I had not wanted to do something so much in my entire life until that point.  I prayed and felt strongly that this was what God was calling me to, but I had maybe $200.00 and I needed more than a thousand by the following week for the first commitment payment.

"Oh Lord!  How is this possible?"

With God all things ARE possible and somehow I had the $ for that payment when it was due, but not the money for the rest of the trip.  I moved forward though, confident that when the money was needed it would be there and truly by God alone it was.  I don't really know where it all came from.  A hundred dollars here and twenty dollars there, but some how God provided everything and then some.  I had a tub full of donations for the hospital and money leftover when March 15th came around.

That trip was absolutely amazing.  I had been to Mexico on a mission trip, but nothing could have prepared me for the trip God was sending me on.  The first day at the hospital opened my eyes and heart to children and a love for them that I didn't know was possible.  I returned to the US and quit my job at Gymboree (mostly because I became a horrible sales person, always thinking about how much the children in Romania needed simple things like food and warmth and fresh air) and I got a job at a pediatrician's office.

So for 11 years now I have been asking God what He had me doing in Romania all those years ago and what I was supposed to be doing long term for the orphan ministry. (and begging my husband monthly to move to Romania - where adoptions are not legal)   About 3 years ago we moved to North Dakota and I joined a community Bible study where I grew in the Lord and gleaned so much wisdom from the beautiful women who met there.   One morning a lady from the study spoke about the trip she was taking to Central America to minister and how excited she was about it.  I told some of the women how my heart was so drawn to orphan ministry in Eastern Europe and I cried telling them that I didn't understand why God had given me such a great burden for these children, when there was nothing I could do! I was heart broken and confused....but, one of these women told me that it was very possible that God still had a reason for that burden and that I might see doors open down the road.

2 years later I stumbled upon a child's file (Lance) and God began opening that door.  We WERE called to orphan ministry in Eastern Europe by adopting ONE little boy who had been orphaned at birth. Fast forward another few months and the door opened a little wider when we realized that God also was calling us to another little boy (Elliott AKA Drake on Reece's Rainbow).  As of June 8th I returned after meeting those precious little boys of MINE for the first time.  I am absolutely in love with them and I ache to have them HOME with their Daddy and Mama forever.

I asked at Lance's orphanage if it would be possible for a ministry team to come volunteer some time and the director said it might at some point be a possibility. I came home thinking that this was a step in the right direction and once the boys were home I would start pursuing that possibility.  HAHAHA God has other plans - remember this is NOT Melissa's time frame.  A few days after I got home I learned that many of the staff in the orphanages in Eastern Europe take August and part of September off for vacation.   This means that the children are not taken outside, or downstairs, or even down the hall for one of the only months during the year that the weather would permit it.  So I asked the director of Elliott's orphanage the same question: "Would it be possible to send a mission team to help in the orphanage during the holiday time to love on  and care for the children?"  I went to bed after sending the e-mail thinking I would hear back in a week and probably the answer would be something along the lines of "Some time that MAY be possible." Instead...I got an e-mail in the morning saying "The director agrees...please send the number of ladies that will be traveling, the dates, and the program."  SWING WIDE THOSE DOORS!!!!!!!!

(Some of the country my little boys are living in) 

God has a calling and a purpose for His people!  He is using that seed planted in Romania to grow into an amazing opportunity to show love to other children in Eastern  Europe, who otherwise may never know love. 

(Some pictures of MY Lance)

FRIENDS, READERS, PASSERSBY!!!! Please pray for this ministry as it begins, pray for the directors' hearts of this country to continue to open and trust this ministry,  pray for women who are willing and able to step out of their comfort zones and in faith to reach out to these children, pray for God to provide the funds for those who He has called to this ministry.

(My Elliott)

FINALLY, as I write there are still a few spots open for this year's trip.  If you are interested in going, please e-mail me at:  schmitty377@aol.com

How quickly our God works!

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Four days ago I blogged about a little girl affectionately known as Sadie on Reece's Rainbow (You can read that post here)

Some details about Miss Sadie:

She has been listed several times on Reece's Rainbow, Rainbow Kids, and a few other sites.

She can talk and is SMART

She is itty bitty

She is beautiful

Her voice is as small as her little frame

SHE HAS A FAMILY

As I posted on Facebook tonight, I don't really know why I am every surprised when God answers prayers the way that we hope He will.  He has loved Sadie from the moment He knit her together in her mother's womb.  He knew that she would be an outcast and abandoned child in her country.   He knew that she would be fragile and "break" easily.  He also knew what joy her laughter would bring to Him.  He knew exactly how her little voice would sound as she repeated animal names in one of her books.  I imagine as He was creating her how much joy He was filled with.  How excited He was as He thought of her life and all that she would accomplish and be capable of.  I imagine that He has been watching expectantly for this day when her picture and name would show up on the "My Family Found Me" page and the dozens of people who have seen her face and prayed for her would at once rejoice and sing His praises.  Can't YOU just imagine?!

I serve such an amazing and mighty God.  May praises flow forth continually from my lips to my God.  Thank You Lord for answering our pleas for Miss Sadie. May it be pleasing to You to bring her home quickly and safely.

Romania Journal Day 2 - part 1

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I'm going to post my journal page from day 2 in Romania, but first I want to remind you that while some of these children's files are returned that does not mean we should forget about them or move on.  They need us  SHOUTING for them now more than ever.  Chad's file has been listed on Reece's Rainbow two times now and while his family hasn't found him "yet" we have to keep looking! Please help Chad's family find out how special he is by sharing about him.

Ok.... Now for Day 2.  Please bare with me while I get through these, many of these are emotional for me to relive as I grieve for the changes that haven't taken place and wonder where the lives that impacted me so deeply are today.

Here we are counting our literally "millions" of lei.

JOURNAL ENTRY DAY 2 in Romania (PART 1)


March 18th, 2002

This morning we got up and took showers (I'll just say that by the time I got out my blood was frozen) and then headed out towards the hospital.  We only have to walk a few steps before we reach the metro.  I've been praying for strength because I can barely look at these people without crying.  As we got to the first stop after we got on the metro a boy who looked about 12 with sandy blonde hair and those classic Romanian chocolate eyes climbed on, bare chested with his arms crossed to keep himself warm.  He didn't say anything or even look at us, he just sat down, started rocking himself and hummed a song.  I've always heard about street kids and poverty but, to see this little boy - completely helpless without God - is heartbreaking.   Terre gave him a snack and he looked around at each of us and then came and stood before each of us.  None of us gave him anything because Terre said that if we gave him money he would either give it to his guardian or buy something to sniff.  It doesn't change the fact that he was starving and cold, or that he lives a life where begging is truly his only method or choice for life.


 So we headed to the hospital and pretty much just pushed up our sleeves and started giving baths.  I think because the ministry workers had the weekend off no-body wiped noses because they all had crusty faces.  One baby, who I'll say is one of the cutest I've ever seen, took me a couple of minutes in the bathtub just to get his little face cleaned off. His name is Robert and he has this soft, curly brown hair and dark curly eyelashes.  He was sort of hiding in the corner and his crib is almost forgotten behind a few others, but all you have to do is look at him or touch his hand and he'll smile.  All you have to do with any of these babies is touch them or hold them and they'll be totally content.

 Here is Robert - the photos just do not do him justice!  Hard to imagine that now that little boy is 11 years old and likely living on the street or in the sewer.

I mostly worked between the "Big Room" and another just down the hall. The other room had about 6 babies under 6 months old, but most of them were asleep most of the time.  I told Elizabeth that I wonder if they only sleep so much because there's nothing else for them to do. We put down a carpet and toys so they could at least see without bars and chains blockading their view.  It is so nice to be able to just hold them and play with them.  They only eat 3 times a day and not at all during the night so when food comes around (which we determined is really pureed chicken and pork) they really guzzle it down....


OK, I'm gonna end there for today, because I want to do the next section justice...