A Thank You to Someone Very Special

Yesterday was "Sanctity of Human Life Sunday" and this was celebrated in our church. (I love our church by the way - Hi Faith Baptist Church!  I am blessed daily by the friendships and encouragement of our church family, as are my husband and kiddos.  We were touched yesterday by many who approached us to ask about our adoption and said they'd be praying - Thank you for your prayers for our son, for us, for Korea - that is the greatest blessing you can give.)

On Sanctity of Human life Sunday, we celebrate each life, the lives God gave us, and the lives of the unborn.  It is so important to acknowledge the unborn, those tiny, tiny babies who cannot speak for themselves, yet who God created and knows so well, before we ever lay eyes on them.  God has a plan for each of the lives of the unborn. A plan. A hope. A future.

And there is a woman who I need to thank..... the birth mother of our son.  She chose life. I have no doubt that giving her unborn child life caused hardship in her own life, as well as discomfort, pain, grief and sadness.  But she chose life and hope, and she loved our son, for our son is her son, and it will always be that way.  She and I will always share a deep and common love for one little boy.  We will always have the deepest gratitude to her and love for her.  We are indebted and grateful and will raise this precious one with a life of love, faith, trust, hope, peace and family.  For God has a great plan for our son's life and his birth mother's life, and we are just thankful to be apart of it all.

It is our prayer that more women will choose life for their unborn children. And in turn as we encourage women to choose life, that many will step forward to love these women and their children, some of whom may need Mommies and Daddies to care for them through adoption. 

The book (audio version was great - I love my audio books) Heaven is For Real comes to mind right now, how the young boy Colton who visited heaven kept telling his parents, "Jesus love the little children."   And He does. 

"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."
(Jeremiah 29:11)

Last week we made a trip to Massachusetts to meet our new niece Faith, daughter of my brother, Jason and sister-in-law Holly.  It was an honor to hold my beautiful 1 week old niece, so perfect and lovely, and a miracle truly, as she was dangerously ill in the womb with Hydrops Fetalis (hope I said that right Jay and Holly?).  There she was wonderful and healthy, a gift from the Lord, with a precious life and a future ahead of her. As I held her, I was reminded of my sister-in-law and brother's deep love for their daughter, as they tried all possible to give their daughter life, when some did not have hope for their child, but God answered their prayers and the prayers of so many people around our country with health and life for Faith. Thank you Lord!!    

May you be blessed by this song by Jason Gray, played yesterday in church by LifeSaver Ministries in Gloversville, NY who visited to share about their beautiful ministry to those facing unplanned pregnancies, struggling post-abortion, or have family needs.

Always remember:

You are Fearfully and Wonderfully Made,

created by an Awesome God.

Psalm 139.

Jason Gray - Remind Me Who I Am To You (<--- click the link)

Take a listen as you continue on your computer clicking around.

Enjoy.

A Few Shout Outs

Two years ago I heard Dave Ramsey (first shout out: Hi Dave!) give his radio program on well, the radio, on the drive home from the lake.  "The Lake" is where my parents live, and its about 45 minutes away.  This ride has been a blessing in my life, as its provided much needed naptime for my kids on the way home from a fun time there, and myself radio time - to pray, reflect, or listen to a program, a grown-up CD, some encouraging Christian music (second shout out: Thank you KLOVE 94.5 for your music and ministry!) and some Christian talk radio on 101.9.

So as I said, I was flipping through and heard Dave's notable voice and became enthralled in his financial advice.  I had heard of this man "Dave Ramsey" from my college friends during a chat in the living room at my house I believe (third shout out to Linds, Jen, and Nina - remember that?).  Well, I went home and bought a bunch of his CDs, a big set and began listening daily to "The Total Money Makeover" in my kitchen, because frankly, I knew myself - that I'd NEVER read a whole financial book, but I knew I'd listen, because well, I'm a theatrical person, and I love a dramatic voice and story, and that's exactly how Dave is!  I was hooked on Dave's principles and encouraged to live "debt-free", so I shared Dave with my husband, and made him listen! Ha! I did.  The thought that we don't have to be in debt forever surprised me, that not everyone lives with debt, that we don't have to live that way, but can step out of it, though it takes WORK! We began the baby steps and saved what we could, and began vigorously paying off our credit cards.  These are beginning steps.  There are many more and I deeply encourage you to check him out at: www.daveramsey.com  where you can hear his radio program live.

I heard on one of Dave's CDs to get a job if you have debt. Well, we have debt, as most former college students do.  And so, the Lord put it on my heart to get a job.  At the time I wasn't writing any longer for Capital Rep (fourth Shout Out: Awesome Theatre who does beautiful work! Go see a play = its good for you to immerse yourself in ART!), though I was still teaching acting at SCCC a little bit (fifth Shout Out: Miss you guys from my class!).  Oliver was a baby and Annabelle a bouncing 3 year old, and well AVON came to mind.  And so, February 2011 I started to sell AVON.  I started selling AVON to pay down debt, but at the same time, the Lord had placed something else heavily on Adam's and my hearts: ADOPTION and March 2011 we applied to the South Korea Adoption Program.  So while we were inspired by Dave Ramsey's principles, God's calling on our hearts to adopt was stronger - "If God calls you to it, He'll lead you through it...."

And so .... Avon became a way for us to put funds aside for the multitude of costs associated with adoption.  There are many legal fees, program fees, agency fees, travel costs, paperwork fees, etc.  It can be discouraging to say the least if you focus on that aspect of adoption for too long.  Yet, when the Lord puts something on your heart, He provides you the way to follow His will, and the Lord has provided greatly to us along the way, though we have a long way to go.  Through the adoption so far, God has taught us to seek Him and place our trust in Him, and that dependence on the Lord isn't weakness, its really where we should be, acknowledging our need for His grace, His guidance, and His help, which is ever-present. 

But here I want to give the main SHOUT OUT of this post and its to my Avon customers who are many dear family members, friends and neighbors, friends at church, friends of friends, and women that I didn't know before Avon who are now very dear to me and part of my life.  I want to thank you ladies AND gentlemen for blessing our son and my family, from the bottom of our hearts!  Proceeds from your orders have gone to help with our adoption costs and your encouragement and friendship over the past two years has truly blessed us! Thank you for asking about our son, for passing brochures along to friends, for being rays of sunshine in my life, and for loving on my little Avon assistants - Annabelle and Oliver.

They say "It Takes A Village", and adoption truly illustrates that, so thank you for being apart of the journey to bring our son home.

I encourage you to check out DaveRamsey.com for financial advice (he's inspiring and motivating) and if you're interested in Avon products, check out my website: www.youravon.com/cmaggs

A Name for Our Son and an Update on Things

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! A little late, but nevertheless a heartfelt wish from our family to yours. I truly hope you experienced a joyful holiday.  We did!  How can you not when you have a 5 year old little girl and a 2 year old son with whom to enjoy it? ;-) It was magical, beautiful, sacred, and sweet, a lovely holiday shared with our wonderful families and friends.  What was especially sweet was to receive many sweet gifts for our littlest man, books, a blanket, and toys for him to come home to!  His gifts are still wrapped sitting under our tree, waiting for his little fingers to open them.  How I look forward to that day!

Our littlest man officially has his American name too - Benjamin!  We named him and I even have it engraved on a ring from my hubby, along with my other children's names, a gift for Christmas. LOVE IT. Thanks Hun! Makes it quite official! (Check out the rings made at this etsy shop called: Cinnamonsticks) 

Why Benjamin?  Well...... many little reasons. #1. We love how it sounds.  We each love old-fashioned names with character and the potential for nicknames which Benjamin certainly has: Ben, Benny, Benj, Benji, etc.). #2. It goes nicely with his middle name, his Korean name, which is Tae-Ju, which we understand to mean "Great Wick" or "Great Light".  He is Tae-Ju to us, actually more Tae-Ju than Benjamin, and we are adjusting to his American name.  We plan to call him "Benjamin Tae-Ju" when he comes home to help him adjust to his first name, and enjoy the recognition of his middle name.  #3. Its Hebrew, which is cool because of our Hebrew roots really and its a name found in the Bible for Benjamin was the younger son of Jacob and Rachel, and father of the smallest tribe in Israel.  #4. It all really comes down to this: In naming our children we have felt the Lord lay a name on our hearts, a name we just couldn't let go of really, that kept coming to both of our minds and have found that the Lord laid the name Benjamin on our hearts for our son. There you have it.

As for an Update:
1. Its 2013 - This is fabulous because this is the year in which our son will come home to us!  We have been waiting for this year since August when EPs kinda slowed/stopped being issued, and we found out there wouldn't be movement for him until "the new year".
2. There are Emigration Permissions (EPs) being issued which is great.  Mainly they are being approved to finish out the 2012 EP quota right now, but hey, movement is movement and its great to hear babies will start coming home soon! 
3. We are realistically looking at March to May, possible June for traveling to South Korea to meet and pick up our son.  Here's how we figure it: "Legals" are paperwork which come stateside from S. Korea about 2 months or so before an EP is submitted for approval.  Nothing has come yet for our son, but hopefully will VERY soon (PLEASE PRAY for THIS!).  Once an EP is submitted, a child now goes through family court for further approval, and then will be approved, which could take an extra couple weeks longer than the former process.  Once an EP is approved, we will wait 1-2 months to travel, during which Benjamin will get his visa and visa interview, etc. and Mommy and Daddy will be figuring out travel plans.  Once we get travel call, we will leave the states within a week or so to go get him. ;-)  So, see how June seems sadly possible..........but we're trusting God's timing to bring us together and staying hopeful and enjoying our family in the meantime. 

We would love to have you come alongside us in prayer.  Here's how you can pray:
1. A new packet of paperwork has been requested  from our agency, as there are new documents now needed by South Korea under the new adoption laws. Please pray for us to get this paperwork together quickly.
2. Pray for healing - everyone in our family (and MANY extended family too) have been sick this week.  Please pray especially for my husband, who has had it all, almost!  Ugh, poor guy! We praise God for healing too, as we are recovering!
3. Pray that God will prepare our family for welcoming Benjamin home and patience and optimism as we wait.  We rejoice with others who are receiving EPs, and long for the day it'll be our son. 
4. As we continue to sort out the financial cost of adoption, we seek God's wisdom and provision and leading in this process, and what steps to take to honor Him.  Its all for His glory!
5. We need to have a home study update, because our adoption is taking longer than expected.  So please pray that happens soon and goes smoothly, as it should be just fine. We want to be ready!
6. PRAISE the Lord its a new year and movement is occurring in the Korea program. This is great and encouraging! 
7. PRAISE God for the wonderful joy of Christmas, for the grace of God to send His son to earth to show us what LOVE really is!  PRAISE God for a beautiful holiday for our family, for the sweetness of our kids meeting Santa, for the joy of hearing our son point to "Baby Hesus" as we drive by him on Van Buren Rd., for nice snow in the perfect amount, and for God's provision of Adam to be home with us quite a bit in the past week!  We are also so thankful to get to see most of our family over the holidays (miss you Jay and Holly and kids)!  We are so thankful for our loving families who are an endless blesssing!

It appears I liked lists today, and numbers, must be how my brain is working today, its been a paperwork kind of day.  Thanks for stopping by, for sharing in our adoption journey.