December 12----a day to remember!

Friday was a FANTASTIC day in our family... December 12 was the day our family officially became "paper pregnant" with our next child!

Solomon continues to call future babe a baby sister but we have no clue! I just wanted to share this exciting part of our journey! 

From here the paperwork trail continues like this--> Paperwork to Government of Saskatchewan --> our agency (Mission of Tears) --> overseas to South Africa and into the hands of the amazing social worker who will match us with our child. And this is where we wait....we wait for the call that will again forever change our lives. 

We have no time frame really but the fact that our paperwork is on its way is quite exciting! 
As we continue into this journey if you pray could you please cover these requests in your prayers:
... for our future babe--wherever he or she may be that she is loved, fed and kept safe!
... prayer for Solomon that he will be ready to welcome home a sibling when it is time. 
... prayer for all the details to work out smoothly (finances, paperwork....)


God goes before us every step of the way. We completely feel at peace (most of the time) about this whole process and trust that God will take care of us. This isn't always easy but its the truth. 

  So do not be afraid. I am with you. Do not be terrified
    I am your God. I will make you strong and help you.
     I will hold you safe in my hands. Isaiah 41:10

Doors and Windows

When one door closes, look for a window to climb through.

Well, today we got an answer to prayer. Not necessarily the answer we were hoping for but the door was closed and now its time to move on and pray, trust and believe that God has this all under control. I always want to try and be optimistic and positive but this post may end up not being so.

Today was a long day.... work, pick up son (with insane traffic), take him to gymnastics, meet at Costco, head to a party with friends and finally home... Not only was today seeing that door close but I was exhausted! These are hard days and I try so hard to stay positive but sometimes you have to be allowed to feel sad, exhausted, disappointed etc. God doesn't expect us to be perfect and happy and optimistic all the time. We are human. We are allowed to feel emotion. But what I always hope to do is trust and rely on God during those moments of doors being closed, moments of feeling exhausted, moments of fear or questioning. 

He is with us all. the. time. 

On a more positive exciting note--our dossier will be ready to send by Monday!!! Meeting our social worker to sign off on all documents, I photocopied like crazy today to get them all ready and we will put them in the big yellow envelope to send off. This is an exciting time with many questions, wonderings, fears, stress and anticipation. If you are a praying person please consider praying for a few parts of our process:

1. For our child-- wherever he or she may be that they are safe and loved. Pray that during this part of their lives there will be people who can build into them and that they will know the love of Christ.

2. For the officials all involved-- that our paperwork would go through smoothly without any hiccups.

3. For finances-- as many of you know international adoption is a worthwhile investment. We couldn't imagine building our family any other way so as we begin the process of fees pray that finances will come together one way or another. (Stay tuned for some fundraisers)

4. For our family-- prayer for Josh and myself as well as Solomon to prepare ourselves to welcome another little one into our family whom we love so much already! Solomon keeps saying little sister when we talk about it but pray that he will have an understanding when it is really time to meet our little babe.  

Thank you for listening, praying and caring! 

Be Blessed--- when doors close always be ready for something more than you expect. God works in amazing ways!

~shaeline

who will love the least of these?

I struggle on and off with handing over my fears, worries and questions to my God. He tells us over and over to trust Him, let Him take care of us because His plan is good. It is better than good-- it's amazing! And so when I forget to hand over my life, every aspect of it, to my God I experience this doubt and that is exactly what the enemy wants. I need to stand strong and I need to pray daily to let God take control of my life. I don't get to ask once and let it be... this is a piece of me that I need to continue to strive towards day in and day out.

 I know we are walking God's plan for our life and I know that the plan for our family is to grow through adoption which we are so excited about, but that doesn't take away the fears, worries and questions that I have. I just need to remember to completely let go, trust God and jump in with two feet. He has got it handled and He has called us to love the least of these. My son, Solomon, is so loved not only by us but by our God. He was not forgotten and we are so thankful for that! 

I have listened to this song, Kings and Queens by Audio Adrenaline, over and over and experience different emotions every time. I have joy, sadness, love, excitement, doubt and it all happens over again. But I hold on to the reminder that we were those orphans until we were adopted into God's family. He loves us no matter what and He clothes us in His majesty. What could be better than that?

be blessed
~shaeline