One Step Closer...

We had a pretty laid back week, which was a nice change for the crazy pace we've been keeping lately!  It's fun to be busy but sometimes, we just need to go hang out at the park.  It is starting to cool down, so we're taking advantage of this perfect weather!

 

 

This week we got a letter from Deaconess (adoption agency) saying that they have send our paperwork to the lawyer!  What this means is that we are waiting on them to set a court date and we can celebrate Gotcha Day!  We are so excited to get this final step done and be Jordan's forever family forever.  We're not worried about losing him, but it will be nice to make it official!  I think he makes a pretty cute Lindley, don't you?

Jordan is all over the place.  He is so silly.  His new favorite play things are the door stoppers.  He hits them and they make funny noises.  And he's starting to venture into new places.  Our living room is pretty much baby-proofed, but now he's testing out other rooms!  He is a busy little explorer.  I have to keep a pretty close eye on him these days!

What a Good Daddy!

 

 

Our poor little man was sick this week.  He had a cold...which meant lots of sneezing, coughing, snot, etc.  And not much sleeping!

 

We had to cancel alot of plans this weekend to accomodate our little sickie but it ended up being a really nice, relaxed weekend.

 

 

The highlight for Jordan was going to the zoo.  I had some things to do on Sunday afternoon (and was exhausted from taking care of Jordan), so Blake decided that the two of them would go to the zoo.  Jordan really enjoyed gazing at the animals that close enough that he could see them.  His favorites were waterfalls, though!

Into Everything

Jordan's birthparents warned us that he would be high-energy and we believed them, especially after spending some quality time with them!  We find this kid in all of the places we try to keep him out of (see above where he got in between the recliners).  If anyone needs a babyproof tester, let us know and we'll lend you Jordan.

A part of Jordan's personality that we've discovered is that he is very determined.  He will go after the same thing over and over until he gets it or has a melt-down.  The problem is that once he gets something, he decides he wants something higher.  He's so funny to watch.  It will be fun to see how the Lord can use that perseverence in his life!

 

We have 6 adopted international students who hang out with us occaissionally.  On Thursday night we went to the Cleveland county fair with our 3 Chinese girls.  They had a blast and we had a blast.  But I think Jordan had the most fun!  He got to pet animals and gake in alot of new sights and sounds.  He is such a funny little guy!

 

 

Why Do We Doubt

One of my biggest struggles in life is dependence on self rather than God.  Well, this adoption process (from beginning to this point) has been slowly and surely beating that out of me.  The fact that Jordan survived the womb and is perfectly health is a miracle.  The fact that we were available to adopt him is a miracle, thanks to many closed doors that were so hard at a time.  The fact that we were chosen is clearly the Spirit's leading in the birthparents' hearts.  And the newest miracle is how we were able to pay for the adoption!

Two weeks ago, we were needing to pay off a $5000 bill so that we can finalize the adoption.  We definately didn't have that, so we asked people to be praying for us.  Within 24 hours, our church had given us $2000 from the adoption fund and the adoption agency, Deaconess, had given us a $3000 grant.  We were blown away by the Lord's provision and so excited to proceed. 

Then on Friday, just before were were supposed to leave for a trip, we discovered that we still owed $4800 for a hospital bill.  I was so frustrated, not because I didn't think God would provide, but we had thought we had finally made it.  I shared the request for people to pray, but didn't think about it much because we were so busy.  I kept thinking of ideas on how we could raise the money, but never felt a peace to proceed with those ideas.  This past Friday we got a call from the agency that someone had gone into their office and paid our entire bill!!!  I was at Homeland and could not stop the tears from flowing!  God's provision was perfect and He gave us exactly what we needed when we needed it.

It is ver humbling to be at a point where you cannot rely on yourself.  I pray that we would continue to look to the Lord for His provision because everything is from Him.  It's easy to forget that in our self-built worlds as Americans.  Lord, help me to trust you.

Another thing we learned through this is that just because you do believe that the Lord will provide, doesn't make it easy at the time.  You don't know where it's coming from so you just have to trust.  Over time, He has done it over and over again, so it gets easier, but it's still tough.

We thought this week would be pretty low-key but we ended up being busy!  Monday was Eden clinic, Tuesday was prison ministry, Wednesday I baby-sat for some friends, Thursday we met with our mentors and had dinner with our Turkish adopted international student.  And Friday, we got to go on a date, courtesy of our friends Curtis & Beth.  They have a sweet little boy a little older than Jordan, so it was fun to see pictures of them playing together.  I love this new phase of Jordan's where he loves to play with other kids or even just watch them!!

The attached picture is Jordan's first OU game day picture!  He was asleep by the time the game started, but it was still fun to hang out at home and just watch football all day!