Hello Friends!
As I begin this email I’m reminded of the popular quote “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”(or something like that)….and so it goes in our case. As it turns out, the siblings that we were hoping to adopt, Priscilla and Emmanual, were taken out of the adoption program. We heard that their mother did not sign the papers to relinquish them for adoption. Our hearts were heavy upon this news several weeks ago, as we had felt emotionally attached to them so quickly. We continue to pray for them, knowing that our Father has other plans for their future and our own.
But God is GOOD…ALL the time, and His ways are higher than our ways. So after prayer, some family discussion, and a sense of God’s leading we’ve decided to move forward with another sibling pair, Emily Constance (10) and Jonathon (2). Their picture is attached! We are anxious and excited about welcoming these two lovely children into our home. Shayley is eager to have a sister who will be close in age and play games and dolls with her, and Reece is equally thrilled to have a younger brother (finally, someone for ME to boss around he’s probably thinking!).
We have finished submitting all of our paperwork now (homestudy, Ghana Dossier, immigration papers, etc etc) – can I get an AMEN!?! So now we wait…and wait…and wait. We wait to be approved by US immigration to bring an orphan into the States, we wait on the Ghana gov’t to approve us to adopt two of their orphans, you get the idea. So when will we be able to bring our kids home? There are several factors involved including the amount of work for both US and Ghana gov’t employees and number of people applying for adoption here and in Ghana will determine how quickly (or slowly) we will hear from them. But we are confident this is all in God’s hands and HIS timing.
With that all being said we could really use your prayers right now! First, we ask you to pray that GOD’s WILL be done, not ours – we are open to the fact that God can close doors in this process and this has been humbling for us. Please pray for our patience in this process as we continue to rely on God for guidance. You can pray for me (Rebekah) as I deal with doubt and fear, and I’m realizing that Faith is a much bigger word than it appears! Also pray for Emily Constance and Jonathon; we have heard and read that the conditions at Christ Outreach Orphanage are bleak, food is always scarce, many children sleep on the floor. Pray that God would soften their hearts and prepare them for a possible move from their culture and what they know as ‘their family’ in Ghana. We’ll leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit to reveal to us all as to what else we need prayer for in this journey J.
We don’t have a clear picture yet as to when we will travel to Ghana, but it may be as early as this spring/summer. We’ll keep you posted on how you can support and pray for us and the beautiful kids we hope to bring home. Thank you for all your encouraging words, emails, and questions…we promise to keep you posted along the way.
In His adventure together,
Mo, Bekah, Shayley & Reece
So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
I Corinthians 10:31
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Follow Up to January Email
Hi Friends,
Thank you so very much for all your encouraging and supportive emails, we are overwhelmingly grateful (keep ‘em coming!). We are excited to announce that we have decided to accept the adoption referral for Emmanual and Priscilla!! We have a strong sense of God’s blessing and peace in this decision. We also know that your prayers have made a significant impact in our decision, thank you!
Since we sent out our email we have come to understand that the reason we received a referral so quickly was because the Ghana program is a pilot-program for our adoption agency so there is not a waiting list for prospective parents as is typical for other programs already established. We also requested to adopt siblings in the application process, specifically a boy and a girl, within the ages of our own children Shayley(7) & Reece(4)…. Wow, could God have answered our prayers more quickly and precisely?!
We continue to ask for your prayers as we carry on through the process of bringing home our 2 precious children, Emmanual and Priscilla (or Pis-killa as Reece calls her). The timeline looks like we might be traveling to Ghana close to summertime. We will try to keep you posted.
In His adventure,
Mo & Bekah
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
Thank you so very much for all your encouraging and supportive emails, we are overwhelmingly grateful (keep ‘em coming!). We are excited to announce that we have decided to accept the adoption referral for Emmanual and Priscilla!! We have a strong sense of God’s blessing and peace in this decision. We also know that your prayers have made a significant impact in our decision, thank you!
Since we sent out our email we have come to understand that the reason we received a referral so quickly was because the Ghana program is a pilot-program for our adoption agency so there is not a waiting list for prospective parents as is typical for other programs already established. We also requested to adopt siblings in the application process, specifically a boy and a girl, within the ages of our own children Shayley(7) & Reece(4)…. Wow, could God have answered our prayers more quickly and precisely?!
We continue to ask for your prayers as we carry on through the process of bringing home our 2 precious children, Emmanual and Priscilla (or Pis-killa as Reece calls her). The timeline looks like we might be traveling to Ghana close to summertime. We will try to keep you posted.
In His adventure,
Mo & Bekah
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all of your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13
January Email
January 21, 2009
Dear Family & Friends,
Some of you are aware that we have been in the process of completing our application and paperwork to adopt in Ghana, West Africa. For those who are reading this and saying ‘what the…..?!?’,we apologize for the abruptness this email might carry, however this process has only recently begun in Nov/December (so you’re not that far behind J). You’re receiving this email because you are very important in our lives and we understand the power of prayer!
This morning we received a phone call from our adoption agency that we have a referral to adopt a sibling pair from Ghana (Emmanual,5 and Priscilla,2, pics attached)!! Needless to say, we are in shock as we did not realize how quickly this referral could/did happen, especially since we have yet to turn in all of our paperwork (home study, dossier). Some of you will understand our shock as you’ve gone through the adoption process yourselves J. So now… we need to formally accept or decline the referral, and here is where y’all come in. Please pray for us as we seek God’s guidance in this decision. We need clarity and peace about accepting this referral, bringing these precious little people into our family forever. We are so excited about the prospect of being their parents and welcoming them into our family, however, we don’t want to make a decision in haste that is not in God’s sovereign will. Your prayers are coveted during this time of decision-making and we promise to keep you updated on what’s going on if you’d like.
Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement as we continue on in this adventure!
Love,
Mo & Bekah
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.
John 14:18
Dear Family & Friends,
Some of you are aware that we have been in the process of completing our application and paperwork to adopt in Ghana, West Africa. For those who are reading this and saying ‘what the…..?!?’,we apologize for the abruptness this email might carry, however this process has only recently begun in Nov/December (so you’re not that far behind J). You’re receiving this email because you are very important in our lives and we understand the power of prayer!
This morning we received a phone call from our adoption agency that we have a referral to adopt a sibling pair from Ghana (Emmanual,5 and Priscilla,2, pics attached)!! Needless to say, we are in shock as we did not realize how quickly this referral could/did happen, especially since we have yet to turn in all of our paperwork (home study, dossier). Some of you will understand our shock as you’ve gone through the adoption process yourselves J. So now… we need to formally accept or decline the referral, and here is where y’all come in. Please pray for us as we seek God’s guidance in this decision. We need clarity and peace about accepting this referral, bringing these precious little people into our family forever. We are so excited about the prospect of being their parents and welcoming them into our family, however, we don’t want to make a decision in haste that is not in God’s sovereign will. Your prayers are coveted during this time of decision-making and we promise to keep you updated on what’s going on if you’d like.
Thank you again for your prayers and encouragement as we continue on in this adventure!
Love,
Mo & Bekah
I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.
John 14:18
Welcome to our blog!
Wow, where to begin. To start, i will post my previous emails that i sent out the past few months because they give a good idea of what is happening in our lives right now.
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