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Protected by her Father's hands

We would like to thank every one for their prayers and support while we were away in Uganda. We could feel God’s leading on every step of our journey. At this point we would like to tell you that God led us to a child we believe is ours! We are smitten. While we won’t pretend to know God’s bigger plan we do feel that she is ours. We pray for her often and we pray that God directs in her life, for his glory. We are in love, but should God have other plans for her we will follow his leading.

The paperwork is in process and we hope to return sometime early next year to bring her home. We appreciate your prayers as our journey continues.

Due to the sensitive nature of adoptions we can only share little bits publicly. Here are a few photos of her precious feet & hands. Once she is legally ours we can share her face publicly with you all.

We're coming for you baby!

Fourth Update – 9/24

We brought a bunch of deodorant for the workers. Those dear ladies sang a song of thanks to us and danced! They made me dance, it’s embarrassing so chances are slim you’ll see that video. We brought soccer balls and kick balls and we played with them all. So fun to watch them chase the ball all around. The kids love to be held and love to have their photo taken. They would happily cling to you, each vying for your attention. Their was one sweet girl who followed me to the younger children. I was standing watching the youngers eat their breakfast. I suddenly realized the this girl was holding my hand and I was rubbing her arm, as I do with Eloise. I started to tear up, I miss her terribly! At one point I heard crying from the baby room, so I wandered in to see what was up. These kiddos are all under 1. They had them all on these little plastic potties! So cute… So funny! One little boy was fast asleep sitting on the toilet. Others were lounging leisurely and others were not happy about sitting on the potty. After potty time they were all given cups of porridge to drink. Quite messy they were. The head sister gave us a further tour today. They have a garden that they grow a lot of what they eat and they also have a small area for farm animals. They have fresh eggs & milk and when they have many animals they will sell them for profit. They have a great home! Most of the children will be re-settled into family, which is great! I peeked in on the sweet 4-day-old twins a couple times today. Such sweet babies.

This place is gorgeous! I commented to Johnny this morning that it reminds me of summer camp, the big trees, dirt roads, small town feel.

Some pictures of our day:

Johnny and the Pastor pumping up a soccer ball for the children

Many of the little ones start crying at the sight of us! Not sure if its stranger anxiety or because we’re white.

The head sister passing out candy to the children. They were so excited to have the sweets!

Even these littles enjoyed the treat

Loving on this sweet one. She is 8-months-old

This little guy is recovering from Malaria. You could tell he wasn’t feeling well.

Making faces with the children.

This little guy enjoyed sitting in this tire.

The older children having some juice. So many kids all sitting drinking! The home has 72 children currently.

The kids chasing Johnny around the yard.

A little in her bed, sucking her thumb.

All the kids (under a year) sitting on their potties

This one didn’t find it very exciting and took a nap instead.

This girl wanted LOTS of attention. She was sweet.

The twins. A boy on the left a girl on the right.

Eating breakfast

These kids are 1-3 years old. They squatting over the potties on the floor.

This foundation will be a guest house where a ministry will hold training for pastors and a place where medical workers can stay when they come to volunteer.

This is jack fruit, haven’t had any yet, but I hear it’s good.

Pastor Abraham’s mom and his youngest son who recently had malaria. He is doing well now.

This is the Pastor’s house.

Johnny left his backpack when we left the pastor’s house. We walked back from the place we’re staying to get it. It wasn’t far and it was an enjoyable walk.

We feel a bit like celebrities! All the kids stop to stare.

Another view of Pastor Abraham’s home and land.

This is right outside of the place we’re staying. These kiddos were pumping water.

A view of the entrance to where we’re staying.

Third Update 09/23

Today was… difficult! We left the guest house in Kampala at 5:30 in the morning to get to the bus station. The bus left the station at 6:30 and we headed North. The first part of the trip, up to Gulu, was not bad. The roads were paved and well maintained. We even saw some monkeys on the side of the road and a beautiful waterfall. We arrived in Gulu around 12:00. We knew this was over 1/2 way by mileage and were told the remaining distance was about 100km (about 62 miles). The rest of the way was on dirt roads, lots of pot holes… by this point we were exhausted. We had not eaten breakfast because Johnny had been up last night with diarrhea. Neither of us felt like eating. We ate a granola bar on the way, but that was all. We arrived at the Nile River at 4:00 in the afternoon and UTTERLY spent… physically and emotionally for me. I was on the verge of tears. The bus was nice, the people on the bus were great, but it just get’s to you… the dirt, the heat, the lack of food. Luckily I didn’t get car-sick as I expected. I feel like I’m rambling… sorry! Crossing the Nile on a ferry was pretty cool, but I may have been too exhausted to really take it in. We arrived in the town we were headed to after 5:00 and the Pastor was waiting to greet us. He drove us to the place we are staying, which wasn’t far. We dropped our bags, washed our faces and went and ate dinner at the little restaurant where we’re staying. Luckily they had rice and beans. It was just what we needed to settle our tummies and give us some energy. We also had some Sprite. After dinner we headed over to the babies home where we were attacked! I don’t think we took any pictures as it was getting dark when we arrived there. The head Sister greeted us and gave us a tour. She said there are 72 children there between the ages of 4 days old and 6. Lots of beautiful children. We will see where it leads. We didn’t stay long and plan to spend most of tomorrow there. This town is GORGEOUS! Beautiful scenery, a bit cooler because we’re at a bit of a higher elevation. Promise to send pics of where we are tomorrow.

This is at the ONLY bathroom stop we made. I have to say it was the WORST bathroom experience of my life, thus far. Apparently you’re supposed to get some water from this bucket to “flush” down the little shoot you pee in. It was DISGUSTING! The smell was atrocious. Moving right along…

That is a goat on the back of a bike… We’re not in America any more! Johnny says that goat was alive… eek!

This was utterly gorgeous! Johnny put the camera out the window of the bus and snapped a couple pictures. The bus attendant sitting in front of us told him to not put the camera out the window, there was police watching and they would not be happy with him doing that. Won’t do that again!

This was on one of the MANY stops the bus made to drop off and pick up people. I think at this point we’d been on the bus for 9 hours and still had another 2 hours to go.

Poor Johnny looks miserable…. couldn’t even pretend!

A mama washing her boy in the Nile River

At the Nile River… starting to hit me now, looking at these pictures, how cool that is. Was WAY ready to be up North at this point.

Little girl at the Nile River stop… cute kids everywhere!

This is what we crossed the Nile River on. Did I mention it was particularly hot there too?

Second Update – 09/22

Hello again,

Our second day in Uganda was very busy. Our driver took us a variety of places.

We went out to a babies home.  The gal who runs the home told us that one day last week she got 4 new babies in the home. The staff was really kind, the facilities were clean, and the children were precious!

We went to the market and picked up some bread and peanut butter for our dinner. I think that sounds easy on our tummies.

Now we’re back at the house, we just finished having toast w/ peanut butter and bananas & pineapple. I’m sitting on the front porch enjoying the cool (yes that is right) temperatures. It is the perfect temperature right now and not too humid at all. I think I’ll pack a little different next time, more leggings for under my skirts/dresses.

We leave tomorrow morning at 5:30 to go to the bus station to head up North. Everyone thinks we’re crazy for taking the bus because it is hot & crowded.

Here are a few pictures for you:

This was our breakfast. It is called a Rolex, I think I told you about that in this morning’s e-mail.

Some goats at the tree-farm this morning.

The remaining pictures are from the baby home.

This little boy was a goof ball! He ran right up and hugged our legs. So silly.

A little dolly!

One of the “mommies” feeding a little one.

The kids having water after their lunch.

The babies in their high chairs for lunch.

These two were looking in the window at the babies having naps.

Playing with one of the wood cars we brought, that Grandpa made.

First Update 09/21

Hello All,

Just thought I’d send an e-mail update to you guys. Yesterday was a rough day for me. I think because I was running on such little sleep, emotions were high. Sure am missing those kids! I think I’ll feel better once we get up North and see the kids there.

The other part that was rough was my tummy… ugh! The flight in left me feeling really nauseous and then the awful roads and the terrible driving didn’t help!

We went for a walk to the market yesterday afternoon. Very interesting sights, smells, sounds, etc. The cars just don’t care about people walking on the side of the road. The pedestrians have to watch for the drivers, not the other way around like in the US. Then we had a driver take us to get lunch and exchange money.

Here are a few pictures for you guys…

This is in front of the house we’re staying at. To the right is a really nice grass yard.

Looking down the road outside of the house. I think Johnny took this on our walk to the market.

We thought Eloise would like to see these goats that were in someone’s yard we walked past.

This is the market we went to.

This little girl was having her hair braided in one of the shops at the market. So cute… I made Johnny take a picture.

Eating our lunch/dinner. It actually settled well. I ordered hummus, hoping it would be easy on my tummy!

And here’s my wonderful travel buddy eating his falafels. Thought of Eloise and her love of falafels :-)

Love you all…

~Melissa and Johnny

Trusting His Voice

I have no doubt in my mind that it was God who spoke to me back in January. Those thoughts were clearly not my own. Since then I have heard God directing on several more occasions. I told Johnny that each time I “obey” what I feel he is instructing my faith grows and it becomes easier to hear him and follow.

A couple weeks ago I was praying to God, telling him how I wanted things to go with the adoption. You know how that is, right? “God, you know, I was thinking that I’d like it if you did… X, Y & Z… It would make my life so much easier! I really think that X, Y & Z would be best, don’t you?” Well my prayer went a little more along these lines, “God, I was thinking that I’d start getting our names on the lists at the orphanages and baby homes, I wouldn’t want to get behind and miss our kids!” Well, he interrupted me and clearly told me to be patient, HE knows what is best for us and that we need to just hang on for the long-haul. He knows best. Duh! It was a great reminder and has given me such peace since then. I’m not going to push anything, I’ll do what is necessary to prepare, but I will continue to let him guide my steps. I have faith that he will direct us to the child or children that he has in mind.

One more story and then a quick update on where we are in process. Last week I was heading to an appointment. The kiddos were at one of the Nana & Papa’s house and I was enjoying my alone time in the car. I was about three blocks from home and saw a lemonade stand on the side of the road. I kept driving, but about two blocks down I felt God tell me that I needed to stop. I am NOT the kind of person to stop at lemonade stands, that is just not my cup of tea, so to speak. I decided that if they were still there on my way home I would stop. Fast forward a little over an hour and I’m headed home. The lemonade stand is still there and so I stop. There are two boys and their mom at the stand. I give them the money and we converse for a bit. I quickly learn that the youngest boy is going to be in Eloise’s Kindergarten class! This is a blessing to meet another family in her class. At this point we don’t know anyone at her school! We continue talking and I mention that we’re in process of adopting. The mom’s mouth gapes open and she shares that they too are going to start an adoption next year domestically. WOW! They live just three blocks from us. God clearly wanted me to stop that day. I was thrilled at the affirmation that I was hearing God speak to me.

Now for a quick update. Our home study is written and being reviewed. Once we sign off on it then it gets sent to the state for approval. We should have state approval within a few days. After that we get a copy to send to USCIS (Immigration Services) for approval. We have plane tickets reserved for mid-September and we’ll travel for two weeks. We’ll visit the orphanages, baby homes and meet with our attorney and serve wherever is needed. We’re so looking forward to seeing what God has in store for our trip. We appreciate your continued prayers that we would hear God guiding our path.

“He who belongs to God hears what God says.” John 8:47a (NIV)

Welcome…

Welcome to our blog. We’re excited to share our journey with you as we follow where God has called us. At the end of January this year God began breaking our hearts and called us to adoption. It has been amazing to see how God has broken Johnny’s and my heart simultaneously. Specifically God told me three things: first was that we needed to pursue adoption, second was that we needed to be open to two children and third was that he would provide. All you wives out there, can you imagine approaching your husband, who is content with two children, and telling him that God has told you he wants you to adopt, not just one but possibly two children? I was so overcome with emotion that I could hardly talk. That week was one of the most memorable weeks. On the day that I approached Johnny with this he told me that he needed two months to think and pray about it.  A couple of days later Johnny said that two months may be too long if there are children waiting for us, so how about two weeks. By the end of that week, after much time spent in fervent prayer and seeking, Johnny told me that we could not deny what God has asked us and let’s move forward.

The last three months have been filled with lots of paperwork, a change of agencies, a change of countries, twenty-four hours of international adoption training, the beginning of our home study and most important of all, prayer.  Our hearts have been absolutely broken for orphans and specifically orphans in the country of Uganda. Over the next few blog posts I will share more specifics about our journey.

We welcome you to join us on our journey and pray.  Prayer has been a large part of our journey already and we know that there will be so much more communication with God. These are some of the things that are weighing heavy on our hearts: Most importantly the child or children we may adopt as well as the other 143 million orphans in the world. We don’t know what our child or childrens’ circumstances are right now, but pray that God will surround them in comfort and peace. Pray for the judge in Uganda who will make the ruling for our children. Pray that when we travel to Uganda, God will make it abundantly clear to Johnny and I who he has in mind for our family.

We’re giving our lives over to what God desires for our family.

“Be Generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can’t go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bank robbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” – Luke 12: 33, 34 (The Message Bible)