Saying Goodbye .... to 2007!

Wow!, what a year! We have been stretched more this year than probably any other single year thus far of our journey here on earth. It's only by God's goodness and grace that we have made it through the valleys and mountain-top moments this year!

Tomorrow not only marks the first day of a new year, but also our daughter's third birthday! It's hard to believe that nearly three years ago we got that life-changing email ...... "a little African American girl ... born with a heart defect ... having open heart surgery today". I will never forget the exact moment of receiving that information. While it was much different in many ways than we had anticipated (we were not expecting the health issues) .... we knew for SURE, this was the child God had led us to nine months prior. We had the absolute privilege of praying for our precious Naomi all throughout her open-heart surgery. By evening we received word that she made it through and was stable and to get on a plane headed for Houston! We had to adjust travel plans, as with her hospital stay, I'd need to go alone and be with her until closer to the time she could come home. So three flights later, the last of which was in a terrible storm and I was certain I was not going to land properly! ...... I landed in TX. Unfortunately I had to wait til the next morning to get to the hospital.

I will always treasure the first moment I laid eyes on our precious daughter. While she was still on a breathing machine, dialysis and umpteen other tubes and wires ..... I saw those big brown eyes and it took my breath away. My heart crumbled as the realization of her aloneness sunk in. At that moment it no longer mattered to me who understood or supported our adoption. What I knew was that a woman that I would never have the privilege of meeting made the courageous decision to give this little girl the gift of LIFE. In our culture today, that should never be minimized. And now it was up to us to be her family. People have said how lucky she is to have a family .... while they mean well, they have it all wrong. Every child deserves a family. Through Naomi's life, we have understood in such a greater depth of just how much God loves us. His love for us is not based on what we have to give ... His love is a free gift, a complete gift ... the only thing that really satisfies the soul.

Do you know His love? .... do you know Him as your father? .... I cannot think of a better way to start off the new year than accept His free and perfect gift.

Tomorrow our 'lil spunky Texan babe will open up her birthday presents. And we will enjoy PINK cake (her request). No doubt our hearts and minds will be often drifting half a world away as we anxiously await news of our other 'lil babe that we have yet to meet. Our hearts are just overflowing with joy as we wait .... yet the journey of adoption is terribly bittersweet. To be adopted, means you have experienced great loss. But we'll save those thoughts for another post. Tonight we give God great THANKS for all He's done for us in 2007!

Merry Christmas!

Praying you each have a blessed Christmas! We are just overwhelmed this year by God's Goodness, Joy and Love. How we long to have all of our children together ... yet He has been so gracious as we await that special news! We are just entering the 3-5 mo. time frame our agency gave us. How exciting!

No news here ... entering week 11 of this wait. Continue to pray with us as we trust the Lord to care for our little-one ... so far away.

It's Not Fair!

Sometimes our daughter will tell us this phrase when she isn't so happy about the outcome of something. And ... sometimes our answer is, "yeah, life's not fair!". But today as I think about my life and what God has done for me .... I too can say ... it's not fair. Before you think I have fallen off my rocker, let me explain. :)

I think about all He has done for me ..... sending His son to suffer and die for my sins. How is that fair? How in the world am I deserving of such love? He has given me a life I do not deserve. He pours out His tender mercies on me each day. He gives me strength to go on ... some times He alone is my strength.

A few years back, I underwent some scary health issues. I didn't know what the future held. I was so frightened and deeply challenged to really decide what I believe. Through God's grace, He chose to bring us through all of that. What could easily have been life-threatening ... was all caught in time. Yes there was pain, sorrow and loss. But still to this day I am overwhelmingly amazed by all the blessings the Lord has poured out. He has given me so much. Most of all, I have known HIM more which makes my life rich ... even on days that seem dark and dreary.

Are there days I pout like my daughter .... "it's not fair!!". I'm afraid I have to say yes ... I do. But the real truth is the opposite of that phrase ... I don't deserve this life ... how I thank the Lord He doesn't give us "what's fair". I would have far less.

Often in the busyness of life we don't stop and realize just all we have in HIM. Maybe you are experiencing a storm in your own life and need to be reminded that your heavenly father is right there ... wanting to give you everything He has. We have to look to Him and receive it. We have to submit ourself, our ways, our flesh to Him ... then we will truly be fulfilled.

On the adoption front ... the wait is difficult. I wish I were handling it with more grace than I am. But one day we'll look back and see God's hand in it all. How I don't want to miss out on what He's trying to teach me through this journey.

Week 8 . . . that's where we are in the wait!

We have been blessed this week by a surprise visit from Grandpa Gene! That has been enjoyed very much.

Paper, Glue & Glitter .. Oh My!

The title pretty much sums it up ... kiddos and I have been working every spare moment on stuff for our booth at the upcoming craft fair in our local town. We have no idea what to expect as far as what size crowd will come through ... and in ND the weather can be pretty unpredictable this time of year!

We are now seven weeks into the waiting process for our referral. It has proved to be very difficult, which we expected. The agency we are working with is awesome, as is our local agency that did our home study. We were very blessed to attend a Multi-Cultural Support Group hosted by our local agency this last Saturday. It was awesome to share experiences with other families. The couple sharing their story recently returned from Ethiopia with their first daughter. She was half of Naomi's size at only 9 mo. old! What a sweetie she was.

Naomi had so much fun playing with her little friend she met at the last event who was born in Vietnam. We all tried to convince her daddy it's time to go for #2!! We'll have to work on him a little harder it looks like.

Several countries were represented including Vietnam, China, Guatemala and Ethiopia. We are thankful for this support network.

Are you waiting?

Many times in our lives we'll find ourselves waiting. It could be for tests results ... it could be for a child who's gone astray ... perhaps a job ... a spouse ... and for many who have joined us on this journey it is a season of waiting on your child to join your family. Everyone reacts to waiting in different ways. I find great comfort in Isaiah 40:31 during seasons of waiting.

Yet those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength;
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not get tired,
They will walk and not become weary.
Isaiah 40:31

Our family is in a season of waiting. There is a tendency to worry, become weary, and wrestle with all the unknowns. But what a comfort it is to know that when we wait for the Lord, we'll gain NEW strength.

We hope that no matter what season of life you are in .... that you might find strength as well in your "waiting".

Reflections of a mother's heart

Sweet child of mine . . . how often my thoughts are of you. I wonder where you are today ... if there is someone to hold you and comfort you ... if you are hungry. How I long to be with you. It seems we've labored for so long now, to bring you home. People we will never even meet have joined us in this journey of bringing you home. There were times I didn't think I could do any more ... but each time I would think of you and knew you were counting on us to keep going. What joy fills our hearts to know you'll be part of our family. Our hearts also grieve over all you've lost already. I cannot give you back that which has been lost ... but I promise you that with the Lord's help we will share everything that is within us with you for a lifetime.

For now we wait. We wait with great expectation that you are being found, cared for and loved by the One who created you. Some day, my child ... they will call us and we will gaze upon your picture and prepare to travel to your homeland and welcome you into our arms. So many details we must trust the Lord for on this journey. Your life is a gift and one in which we treasure and embrace. How we long to see you.

Checkin' In ....

Hello there! Nothing really new to report. You can just keep waiting right along with us. :) So what do we do while we wait? Plenty! Now that my (Shelly) health issues seem to be completed we are trying to just play catch up around here. I'm realizing just how LONG I'd been sick for. Crazy! Can you say messy house?, cluttered closets, long over-due to-do lists?!! Everyone is sporting a new haircut today, so we aren't lookin' so shabby around here. Well, that is everyone except the girly ... no scissors have yet to touch her hair! Speaking of hair, that reminds me that I need to be working with middle brother on hair-care since he'll be the primary one in charge of her sweet head while we're away traveling. We have this "deal" in our house. Daddy washes the hair once a week and I do the daily upkeep. Fair enough. :) I'll post sometime soon on what we've found to work well for our hair woes. Since all hair is different, I look forward to seeing our new babe's hair and finding what works best for her as well.

Other than that, we are keeping up with our studies and I've been tackling a few creative projects. One of those you'll see soon. I made a fun tin this last week and couldn't figure out what to DO with it. So, we decided we might as well have a 'lil fun on here while we all wait and have a silent auction! ... just in time for your gift giving needs. :) So stayed tuned for pics very soon!

Time for Tag?

Ah, the wonderful world of blogging ..... I've been "tagged" by my dear, long-distance friend Miranda. You can visit her family over at On the Road to Emmaus

In other words, it's just a creative way to get to know each other. So here goes:

Present/Past Jobs:

1. Stay-at-Home Mom/Educator for 14 years.
2. Demo for Stampin' Up! (stamping/scrapbooking company)
3. Cleaned houses & gave piano lessons
4. Worked at a family owned farming retail business.
5. Helped people decorate their homes with a decorating company.

Places Lived:

1. Grew up in rural Illinois
2. Spent 2 years in Louisiana while my husband was in the Air Force.
3. Lived in 3 different apartments in the inner-city of Chicago (while hubby attended Moody Bible Institute)
4. Moved to rural North Dakota in two different locations where we plan to stay a very long time.

Favorite TV Shows:

1. Can't say that I have any. I prefer playing games with my family.
But if it were a movie! .... now that would be easy .... I love the series by Michael Landon Jr. of "When Loves Comes Softly", "Love's Enduring Promise" ... and the rest. New one is out soon! Yeah. :)

Books I've especially appreciated recently (in no particular order):

1. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Ted Tripp
2. A Life that says Welcome by Karen Ehman (awesome book on hospitality)
3. Carried Safely Home by Kristin Swick Wong (adoption)
4. The Bathtub is Overflowing but I Feel Drained by Lysa TerKeurst
5. The Psalms - without the Lord I would fall and never be able to get back up again.
Pretty much anything on organization, home-making, hospitality, adoption, parenting, education ..... trust me ... I need all the help I can get!

Food Faves:
1. Chocolate
2. Homemade Taco Pizza
3. A particular salad at Chilis
4. Cheesecake or any other yummy dessert
5. Grilled chicken served next to steamed veggies

Places I've been: (wow my list is boring compared to my friends!!)
1. Texas to meet my daughter nearly 3 years ago at Texas Children's Hospital while she recovered from open-heart surgery
2. Tennessee - Great Smokey Mountains
3. Georgia - to see dear friends
4. Lord willing I will soon leave the USA for the 1st time ever, to meet our new daughter in Ethiopia.

Things I enjoy:
1. Quiet - after everyone is tucked safely into bed at night.
2. Good Coffee - especially when served by one of my sons in a favorite mug.
3. Spending time with the man of my life.
4. Playing games with my fam! .... the latest family fave is Quiddler!! ... and I love to win!
5. Photography - both taking pictures and preserving them and being creative with them.
6. Making things for others with paper crafts, stamping, etc.
7. Visits from friends, both old and new.

I will tag:
Jana at It's Good to be the Queen

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. Psalm 62:5-8

A wonderful message . . .

Today I'd like to share with you a message by John Piper. Many of you are probably familiar with him. Anyway, it's a fabulous message and we hope is an encouragement to you. Click on the link below and it will take you there.

Adoption: The Heart of the Gospel :: Desiring God

As we reflect on adopting again . . . we can't help but be overwhelmed with humility and awe of what God did for us, His children. He did not adopt us based on who we are, but because of who HE is. We weren't "good enough" ..... but we are His children .... for all eternity.

Pictures to Share with You

We'd like to share another family's blog with you who recently traveled to Ethiopia to meet and bring home their daughter. They worked with the same agency we are. We so appreciate all the pictures they took that helps to share the great needs in our child's homeland. We are so eager to meet the newest member of the Roberts family and share our lives with her.

Almost to Ethiopia

Quiet, but still here . . .

So ... yes, we realize we've been quiet for a couple of weeks. Sorry 'bout that. We so appreciate all of you who have somehow found your way into our lives and are on this journey with us in some capacity or other.

Ended up back at the doctor for more testing this last week. Everything turned out okay. I do not desire to go there again anytime soon!

Recently I've been reading a most wonderful book on adoption by Kristin Swick Wong titled "Carried Safely Home", by FaithWalk Publishing. I would encourage ALL adoptive families and their extended family/friends to soak up this book. It is a story of one family's adoption journey (two actually!!) to Vietnam. The author just opens up her heart and allows you to glean so many amazing lessons God taught her. It has been a timely book for me. I want to share a couple of entries from the author with you ... they are lessons applicable for anyone, not just adoptive families.

"Jesus also promises that those who follow him will have troubles and persecution, so good must not always mean deliverance from difficulty. The New Testament claims that trails are not counterindications of God's goodness but a portion of his good gifts. They allow us closer fellowship with Jesus, because they produce godly character in us and because they are "achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all" (2 Cor 4:17). Paul and James both exhorted their readers to not only accept their sufferings but to rejoice in them because of the good that God would bring from them (Rom 5:3-5, 2 Cor 12:10, Js 5:2-4)."

"God is working everything together in our lives for our good. He desires to abundantly bless us - on His terms. Only he knows what good means for us."

WOW ... did you catch those last two sentences???

She goes on to say .... "Sometimes he gives us what we feel is good; sometimes he gives what we instinctively recoil from and withholds what we desperately want. In both cases, he is creating more good in us and for us than we can imagine, though his blessings do not always coincide with what makes us happy. God's good does not always feel good."

As I've spent time reflecting on the health trials God allowed into my life these last months and some other incredibly difficult things ... none of it changes the fact that God is GOOD ... and He wants good for my life. HIS good, likely will look far different from how I'd picture it. Even through crisis, pain and heartbreak .... He brings good ... and often times that's how He brings it. I'm so grateful that my heavenly father isn't willing to leave me the way I am, but rather He wants to refine me into the person HE designed me to be.

While our paperwork was being authenticated, they encountered a problem with one document. That has been re-ordered and as soon as it arrives we are told our dossier will be complete. Please pray that goes through smoothly.



We have appt's on Friday to get our immunizations done finally!! .... we'd put that off while I had my surgery.

May you be encouraged today, no matter circumstances you find yourself in and know that God is good .... and His good is better than any earthly thing.

Alive and Well . . .

What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks have been. What was supposed to be a routine gall bladder surgery ... turned into a lot more. After quite a traumatic ordeal ... I am now home, recovering and feeling SO much better!!! The day everything happened, we received our CIS approval in the mail! Hooray!!! We were elated ... then less than 30 min. later I was bent over in pain hardly able to breathe. We've learned a lot through this process and we're sure there is still much we will learn.

The biggest truth that covers over everything we've been through is this .... God is good ... no matter what. He is good in the mountains and He is good in the valleys. He is sovereign and nothing is allowed into our lives that doesn't first pass through His loving hands. We clung to that at our very core. While it seemed our lives were being quite shaken up, we knew that no matter what ... we could cling to that, because that is what the Bible says to be true. We have to not only trust God in our hearts, when all "feels" well ... but we also have to trust God with our minds and submit our thoughts to Him and allow Him to align them with His truth.

While I hope to NEVER experience again some, no rather much, of what I did in the hospital .... I am trying with all I am to embrace what it is God wants to do in me through this experience. I don't have to understand it ... but I need to trust that the One who created me is in control. He has never and will never leave my side.

Turns out I had some complications following surgery and they were able to put a stent in to fix the situation. That will come out sometime in the near future. In a small way, this seems to be bad timing (with everything with my health) ... in that we have many other things needing our time and attention right now. But the Lord is good and allowed all this to happen this year ... while all of our insurance needs have already been met because of Nathaniel's surgery earlier in the year. We are extremely grateful to the Lord for His provision.

So .... news on the adoption front. We are happy to report that Fed Ex picked up the remainder of our documents today! They are now being authenticated and within two weeks ALL of the paperwork should be behind us on this side of the adoption!!!! Please pray that the notarizations are accepted. We have had quite a challenging time thus far and have had to re-do MUCH.

We are more eager than ever to be one step closer to meeting the new member of our family. Our hearts ache to see her face and hold her in our arms and tell her how much we love her ... and even moreso how much her heavenly father loves her.

Several have asked if we've picked out names. Nothing definite. Have some ideas??? ... we're certainly open to suggestions!! Just post a reply.

By the way ... our guestbook is pretty empty and there are over 2500 hits to this site .... are you ALL shy out there that come to visit us? :) You really should consider clicking on that link on the side and sign in and say hello! We'd love to hear from you.

We just enjoyed a visit from David's parents and brother. Now in a couple of days Shelly's family will come to visit. What a blessing!

Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow . . .

You know the song ..... are we are singing it today. It's been a very mixed combination of highs and lows here today. Let's start low and work our way up. We found out that no one really likes how any of our notarizations have been done in ND!!! It was shocking to receive the news that even our agency license and social worker notaries weren't going to pass. But, we will keep pressing on through every hurdle. Kate, at KBS Dossiers, has been incredible and we now see why we felt led to hire her for the authentication process as there has been one hurdle after another. So ... we are hopefull that within the week this will be ironed out! Now we just need that insurance form (that the people did not want to cooperate sending quickly) and our CIS letter and we are pretty much good to go for our dossier!!! Listen carefully, because you just might hear us shout HOORAY all the way from ND when it's said and done!!

And .... another dear friend came over to bring meals from several gals for our freezer!!! We cannot tell you how much this blessed us!!! I will rest SO much better knowing that my family's tummies will be well cared for while I recover. You gals are amazing!!! .... it was overwhelming to see what you did for us.

So ... for those of you who want to know, my surgery is at 10:00 tomorrow morning. We anticipate a laproscopic surgery and back home late tomorrow afternoon. Since surgery is later than we'd hoped, Josiah and Nathaniel will be going for Plan B tomorrow. That's okay, because they are excited about Plan B as it means they get to go be with the family that Colton's been working for. Colton will be here holding down the fort with sis and studying.

Now I just want to see that CIS letter while I recover on the couch! :)

We are encouraged as we continue to see the Lord pave a way to unite us with the child He's put on our hearts to join our family. Please pray for her provision for nourishment and safety until we are able to travel. That is something heavy on our hearts every day. As much as we already love her ... it's incredible to know that God loves her even greater ... and we praise Him for her life and all that He will do through it.

Re-Done and Ready to Go!

We finally were able to make the trek BACK to Lisbon to have all things of our from ND re-notarized. We are thankful that these were all caught now, instead of creating a delay later. We are waiting for just ONE important document to arrive in our mail box before all items are ready for our dossier. Pray for us that it will be processed quickly and arrive soon!

There is never a dull moment around here in the meantime though. We are back part way into our fall school routine which feels good. On my good days while waiting for my surgery I am working hard to keep up with the SaCH project. On the bad days? ... well, let's just say I've never taken so many mg's of Ibuprophen in all my life. A couple of days, even the dose I can take hardly touched it. But ya know what?? .... this is really a small thing in the big scheme of things. Thankfully, my surgery should be quite routine and Lord willing I'll be back to my old self in a couple of weeks. My gall bladder and I are no longer friends and we need to part ways! A LONG ways!

We are soon awaiting grandparent visits and that always makes us very happy!!! Do you realize how few people travel to or through North Dakota? :) Thankfully the grandparents make their way out here. We treasure the time we get with each of them.

We appreciate you all for praying for us through this journey. And ... since it's a "good day", I best get back to cutting paper for the next batch of cards.

(note: the pic on this post was at the Great Smokey Mountains Nat'l Park)

If You're New Here . . .

Welcome! ... if you're new in following our journey, you'll want to click on the right under where you see archives. We began documenting our journey here in April. So go there if you want the "whole story". Please drop us a line and let us know you stopped by. ~The Roberts Family

A Few More Pics

Well, now that our laundry is clean from the trip and we're settled in a little ... thought you might enjoy a few more pics. Naomi absolutely LOVED her time at the Reimers in Georgia. She was NOT happy about coming home to an empty bedroom. She kept saying, "I want to sleep at the kids house!" (she was in Momma and Daddy's room there.) Big sis Emily Grace (who is in the previous post in the family pic) is such a blessing to be around. She is such a great helper and serves with joy. Naomi could not get enough of "dress up" with her. Shown in this picture is the "baby" of the family, Annabeth - 18 mo., same size as Naomi (well, if we smooshed down Naomi's hair, and she has heels on in the pic). She was CERTAIN she could handle wearing the dress up shoes too and we just hoped we wouldn't end up with a sprained ankle! She thought she was somethin' prancing around the house in this sparkly outfit.
The boys enjoyed walking out on rocks and they were great to stop all the fun awhile so Mom could get some pics. Looking back, man I felt rotten those days ... but am really grateful for some wonderful pictures. I am feeling much better now, by the way (definitely not 100% pain free - but very liveable) and hope to put an end to all this pesky gall bladder problems with my upcoming surgery.
We spoke with Kate today, who is working on the dossier process with us. The plan is to go have the current things that arrived notarized, along with all the rest we have to re-do the notaries for on Monday. We are just waiting for the CIS clearance letter .. pray that comes SOON and an insurance letter. Then we will be nearing the end of the dossier process!! This will be a huge milestone.

Home Again!

Well, we made it! Just under 4,000 miles and we're all still in one piece! ... well mostly. I, Shelly, have a pesky gallbladder this is hollaring to be removed ... so that is on the agenda for this week. Still waiting to get into the doctor. Hopefully they can do laproscopy and have me on the mend before ya know it.

In the meantime, we got 4 major pieces of mail!!! .... we are SO happy to have in our hands all three passports and our FBI clearance. We are just waiting on CIS approval. That along with some other items needing re-notarized, we are making headway on the great paper chase.

Our trip was overall wonderful, even though Shelly had several days of not feeling well. We all made it through with not catching any nasty bugs of which we are always grateful for!

We were able to stop in St. Louis and see Shelly's brother and his wife. Their "hospitality on the road" was amazing! They met us at the zoo for a very warm and wonderful time. (Little did we know that would be one of the cooler days on the trip!!, the rest was usually 100 and higher.) We then went to the hotel they had gotten for us complete with a large outdoor pool where the boys swam for hours!, while we got to enjoy a great visit. They brought pizzas and homemade brownies. Naomi could not be happier that Aunt Susann remembered her favorite food! - chocolate. :) That visit ended way to short and it was time to head on to TN.

We enjoyed a very warm stay in the Great Smokey Mountains. Now, we knew we were going "to a house in the mountains", but we had no idea how literal that actually was! Let's just say David did all the driving and Shelly did not always keep her eyes open. Ha. We will be forever grateful to the Cross family for opening up their home to us.

After a week there, we treked on down to Georgia ... just to see if we could find any hotter temperatures to enjoy. Just kidding. (It WAS hotter there, by the way.) Our time with the Reimers family was so wonderful. Even though we got to stay over two nights, it ended all too quickly. It was such an encouragement to see a family raising up all their little ones to the glory of God. We will treasure our time with them for a long, long time.

Then it was time for the LONG trek back to ND. It went remarkably smooth ... other than 20 miles of a NASTY storm near Omaha. Thankfully we never had to dive into the ditches to escape the tornadoes. The temp went from 101 to 67 in less than 30 minutes! High winds and heavy rains that followed made for some unpleasant driving. It was almost strange to drive today without the sun beating through the windows on us. Boy were we grateful for A/C all this trip!

We enjoyed time away as a family to really reflect on our lives. It was a long-overdue trip. We're anxious to get Shelly's surgery over with and onto our fall plans. We'd appreciate your prayers through this time. We have boxes of supplies sitting here ready to be put to use for the Stamp a Child Home project as well. They may just have to sit a few days. :)