God is Great!!!

You can see that we have turned in our paper work. What an exciting moment it was. At the time we turned in the paper work we had not received all the money we needed. We were close but not quite there yet. But God is great. As you notice to the right we have received more than enough to turn in our paper work and are well on our way to the next level we need. We cannot thank those who have helped out enough; God will bless you for your blessing. Keep praying as we begin to wait for the next step. We will keep you up to date as we hear more.

- brian

Trying to Raise $1100 By Tuesday!

well next week is Thanksgiving and this year has flow by so quickly. I have so much to be thankful for this year. but this biggest thing I am thankful for is to be a part of this adopting process. this entire thing has changed my world and I wouldn't have it any other way. i have discovered stuff about myself that I never even knew. God is proving himself over and over every day. i know without a shadow of a doubt in my head that we are doing what God has called us to do right now in this time in our lives. however, right now we are at a stand still wih the process.

our paperwork is sitting on our table ready to turn in but we do not yet have the funds to even be able to turn in our paperwork. we need $2000 just to turn in our paperwork. we have already reaised $1465 dollars and $600 of that went to turn in our first application. we need to raise another $1,100 just to turn in our paperwork. we are praying that the money will come in by Tuesday and we can turn in our paperwork before Thanksgiving. would you please consider being a part of this child's life? if you have a great idea how we can raise money that would be awesome too. several of you have already mentioned some things and I can't wait till January and February to get those rolling, that is when we will need a big chuck of the full $12,000. But right now we NEED $1,100 for the baby.

online donations

As you may have noticed, we have added a donation button to your right. I am still working out all the kinks, but this will allow you to easily invest in the life of this child through PayPal's secure site. Again, we thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. May God continue to pour out His blessings on you and your families.

- brian

where we are financially

As many of you know we have recently sent out letters asking for support. You will now find a graphic showing the amount of money we have along with what it will be used toward. We are currently gathering funds to turn in our paperwork. If you have already contributed we thank you. If you have not we ask you to seek God as to how you might, through prayer or finances. We thank each and every one of you and pray God's abundant blessings upon you.

- brian

from my heart

so when i was younger i never thought anything about having my own children. that was the farthest thing from my mind. i didn't even want to be around babies at all. even in college i didn't think anything about kids. but during the summer of my junior and senior year i worked down in new orleans doing inner city ministry and i fell deeply in love with kids. i couldn't wait to have my own bunch running all over the place driving other people crazy. i couldn't wait to be the soccer mom who always had the entire neighborhood's kids at her house cause my house would of course be the "cool" house. i just needed to find a husband that would want to do all that with me. well God blessed me with brian and the dream grew. we have always wanted kids. and for some reason as soon as we got married we decided we wanted to have a lot of them. i'm talking 8 or 9. we might be saying differently once we have one but we really do have a heart for kids. i can't think of anything better than having a house full of little warriors fighting against the world with truth, like God's own little army. what a blessing to me a mother. i've never really thought of all the blessings just the hard work. i mean i have no doubt it will be hard work but that seems so small compared to the abundant blessings.

i know God has layed adoption on our hearts for a reason. he has them all picked out already. he knows their faces, their eye colour, their name, their favorite colour, what their favorite smell will be, and who they will be when they grow up. wow. i am so ready to be a part of it. on saturday morning we had a women's bi-monthly bible study at our church. one of my friends was leading us in music and she taught us this new song. i want to share the lyrics with you:

Hear the sound
The sound of the nations callingHear the sound
The sound of the fathers crying
Who will go for us
Who will shout to the corners
Of the earth
That Christ is King

CHORUS
We speak to nations
Be open
We speak to nations
Fall on your knees
We speak to nations
The kingdom is coming near to you
Oh we speak to strongholds
Be broken
Power of darkness
You have to flee
We speak to nations
The kingdom is coming near to you
We speak to you
Be free be free

Hear the sound
The sound of the nations worshipping
Hear the sound
Of sons and daughters singing
We will go for you
We will shout to the corners of the earth
That Christ is King

now that you have read the lyrics change all the "nations" to "children". what does that do to you? yeah, i cried the entire way through the song. i say the face of everychild i think i have ever encountered as we sang that song. and i really felt like God kept saying "i'm bringing them to you". i want to intercede on behalf of those children, all children. i will take as many as God blesses me with, both biological and adoptive. it's funny cause we sure don't have the financial means to even take care of the two of us sometimes but i KNOW God will provide. our house will one day be full of children from around the world but until then i will intercede on their behalf and fall on my knees begging God to save their lives. i'm asking him to break the darkness for those that seem to be forgotten. i'm asking him to use me, show me, mold me, soften me, and prepare me for the children he is bringing into our lives. they ARE coming.

financial aid

Dear family and friends,

What a marvelous journey God is leading us on. It is a journey that we cannot make alone, that is where you come in. We are relying on your thoughts and prayers as we take one step at a time. You all mean so much to us; may God bless you for the blessing you have been to us.

Children have been a desire of our hearts, even prior to marriage. We believe this longing will be manifested in a family of biological and adoptive children. God spoke to us most recently through our involvement in the beginning stages of an orphan ministry at church. The foundation for this ministry is found in James 1.27, "Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress..." Following our initial discussions of how to reach out to the orphan population, we felt God tugging at our hearts to pursue adoption. In September we stepped out in faith to follow this call to adoption.

Over the past two months we have enveloped ourselves in the adoption process, from paperwork to doctors visits and beyond. As you know, adoption is not only the investment of love for a child but it also requires a financial obligation for the services provided. We have chosen to use Bethany Christian Services, a reputable Christian adoption organization. The total cost for their services is $12,000. Preliminary and formal application fees, totaling $600, have been paid. Following the completion of our paperwork, soon to be finished, a $2000 contribution to the birth mother fund is due. Once our home study is complete, they check us out through a magnifying glass, a second fee of $2000 is required. The final $7400 is paid prior to placement of the child in our home.

We have prayerfully considered and are asking you to be a part of this baby's life. Please be in prayer as to how God may direct you in investing in this child's life. You may want to contribute directly. Two other options for investment are the purchase of handmade cards (i.e. the pics to your right) and photographic prints of various outdoor landscapes (soon to be posted). We thank you in advance for your prayers and love for this child. This is a journey God authored long ago; may we all enjoy the blessings of living it out.

Brian and Audra

Amazing God

How amazing is our Lord. Audra and I have begun the process of asking for assistance for our adoption fees. There are those out there that we expect to help, as we all do when we reach out to our family and friends. But God is so amazing because He supplies us with surprises on a daily basis. Sorry if this post is a bit crazy, I am at work. Yes I am working at 11:30. Well, God surprised us today with our first Baby contribution. An unexpected gift from a friend, who would have thunk. GOD is sooooooooo good. We love you Lord. May you be blessed for your blessing; you know who you are.

- brian

a verse for today

so today is one of those days where it is hard to trust God. one of those days when it just doesn't seem like things are going the way you think they should be. one of those days when Satan tries to creep in and put doubt in your mind that this is not what God has in store for you. one of those days where anything else would be easier. one of those days where you just feel like no matter how much you try, give, work, pray, or trust it just doesn't seem to be enough. but just minutes ago, through a friend, God gave a verse: Joshua 3:5 that states "Joshua told the people 'Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.'" nuff said.