4 Feet in 2014

We’re ending 2013 with a bang!

Instead of focusing this post on all God accomplished in our lives, family, and ministry in 2013, we’re excited to announce His plans for our family in 2014…

Drumroll please…

God is expanding our family by FOUR feet in 2014!

Yes, you read that correctly!  We are welcoming two girls, who happen to both have Down syndrome, to our family in 2014!

Here’s the scoop:

Since May 2013, we have been in the process of adopting a precious baby girl who has Down syndrome.  She’s from India, with an amazing God story I hope to share soon.  She should be joining our family in 2014!  We would love for you to join us in prayer for her court hearing this Friday, praying the judge will have favor upon her and grant her permission to come to Texas!  This baby girl is an absolute doll, and we are so eager for her to join our family!  We look forward to sharing her picture with you once her adoption is approved.  Oh how we adore her!

As if the blessing of this baby girl isn’t enough, God confirmed to us on Christmas Day that we are to pursue the adoption of another precious girl who is in desperate need of a family, but this girl is not a baby.  She’s a beautiful 13-year-old girl in China who has Down syndrome who MUST be adopted before her 14th birthday, which is in early March, 2014.  You can read a little about her right HERE.  Her nickname is Daphne, and she is already dear to our hearts, but due to the rules of her country, we are not able to post her picture here.  She is simply precious.

We have not yet been officially matched with precious Daphne yet because we must first complete a Hague-accredited home study (which we are currently in the process of doing).  Our current home study and USCIS (immigration) approval are non-Hague (meaning we are approved to adopt from countries that are not part of the Hague treaty on adoption).  Our first adoption was a Hague adoption (in 2008 from Colombia), but all seven subsequent adoptions have been with non-Hague countries.  We have no preference in where God calls us to adopt, so we have no concerns in whether it is a Hague country or not, it just so happens that’s the way God lined it all up the last seven times.

On Christmas Day, God so beautifully confirmed for our family that we are to pursue the adoption of Daphne.  God collided ashes with beauty as we served the homeless in San Antonio on Christmas Day.  Amidst the ashes of homelessness, God miraculously guided our paths to cross with a little girl at the park in San Antonio who has Down syndrome (who was not homeless).  The epitome of beauty.  As we stood among the lowly on that Christmas Day, it was a glorious representation of Christ our King born in a barn.  He is beauty from ashes, a King born among the lowly. 

The little girl God used to impact our lives so greatly on Christmas Day just happened to be in our path because as she was traveling home from Seaworld with her parents, a huge inflatable slide caught her eye.    We are the ones who brought and set up that huge inflatable slide in a park in the lower economic area of San Antonio where hundreds of homeless people sleep on the streets and under the bridges.  God is the One who orchestrated the events that morning to bring this precious little girl to the park to deliver a message to our family simply because of her presence.  Full of joy, love, smiles, and hugs on that Christmas morning, God used this precious little girl to speak directly to my husband’s heart, confirming to Him that our family is to pursue the adoption of an orphaned girl overseas who desperately waits for a family with little time left to be chosen.  Just as He promises to not leave us as orphans spiritually, God impressed upon our family that we are not to leave Daphne as an orphan either.  She is a part of His beauty from ashes that He continues to build for our family after the loss of our precious daughter, Chrissie, in 2010.  His unfolding beauty never ceases to amaze me.

We would greatly appreciate your prayer support, as well as your financial support, in the adoption of Daphne.  Because she ages out in early March, 2014, we have very little time and resources to get this done.  If Daphne isn’t adopted before her 14th birthday, she will never know the love of a forever family, as China will not allow her to be adopted after she turns 14.

If anyone is familiar with Hague adoptions, most take a minimum of a year.  However, both agencies involved with Daphne’s adoption will be expediting her case, as well as our paperwork to get to her in time.  We’ve already started the process, so we’re working as quickly as we can to get to her.  However, we have to wait for government clearances and approvals that we have no control over.  But God does!  Pray, pray, pray for favor every step of the way in this process.  Each day that passes without something being accomplished is a day not in Daphne’s favor.  God hears our prayers, and Daphne deserves an army of prayer warriors lifting her up every step of the way so that before her 14th birthday, she can be in the arms of her forever family instead of being transferred to Beijing on a bus, no longer able to stay in her orphanage, no longer eligible for adoption.  God is able!

The situation is desperate and if we look at the obstacles through our earthly lenses, it seems impossible to complete a Chinese adoption in a mere two months.  But, when we BOSS OUR HEARTS to beat in sync with His, we replace doubt with TRUTH and claim His promise that with God, ALL things are possible!!!

It is our great privilege to share our adoption fundraiser shirt with you today, In honor of Daphne’s adoption, and in memory of Chrissie (this is her legacy!):

Click HERE to purchase your shirt today!

$14 from every shirt purchase will go directly toward the expenses related to Daphne’s adoption.  The total estimated cost of Daphne’s adoption is $30,000.  Please share this fundraiser with belief that with God, all things truly are possible.  Join us in bossing our hearts to beat in sync with His, replacing lies and doubts with His Truth and promises with every beat of our hearts, every step of the way.

Boss your heart! To donate directly to our family (instead of purchasing shirts), you may do so here: