Mere musings

Dear friends,

It's been a while since I've written on here--I've let Kimberly handle most of the more recent blog posts.  It's been an exciting few weeks with the news of the twins, and we are just praying that everything moves rapidly in both governments so we can fly over there soon.  We picked out names this week, and we'll share them with you soon.

The direction of this post will be more centered on a blog post I read from desiringgod.org this morning. While there was nothing necessarily new or profound that was presented, it was a sweet and timely reminder of the impact that we as leaders/parents/teachers have on our children/students/pupils.  So often, as that article explained, we are encouraged to focus on how much we are growing individually, and as long as we feel like we are moving forward, or standing our ground against sin, etc., then that's enough.  However, the truth is that faith is so much more than me or you getting to the end of our lives and feeling good about what we've accomplished (or even what God has done through us).  What legacy did we leave?  What advice or truths did we instill in the people that continue living out the faith after us?

That's the challenge for me as I chew on these questions.  Yes, my faith is important for me, but it's so much bigger than that.  If I do nothing to pass on that faith intentionally to others, then am I giving up before the job is done?

Oh, may we not waste the opportunities.

"Expecting Adoption" Photo Shoot

We're clearly getting really excited about our adoption of these two sweet babies! C is more than ready to be a big sister and we are working on the nursery! So fun.

In our excitement, we got to do a photo shoot with the amazing Cindy Shaver over at Life's Captured Moments! She was so sweet to do our shoot-- even in the rain! That was a first for me :). Head on over to her site and take a look! She's been super kind to us throughout our adoption journey. Thanks, Cindy!

Here are a few of the shots:

 Growing in our heart!

 She's SO excited!! =)

We had a blast!!

Stay tuned.. I'll be writing about their names, and meanings. We're excited to share!

Until they are home,

Kimberly

Journey to the Finish Line: 10 TO THE END!

"Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of His name; give to Him glorious praise! Say to God, 'How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies come cringing to You. All the earth worships You and sings praises to You; they sing praises to Your name.' Selah. Come and see what God has done; He is awesome in His deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in Him..." Psalm 66:1-6

We received pictures this past week!! Wow. Can I just tell you these kiddos are PRECIOUS. Seriously precious. They are beautiful. They look so much alike, too! We are in awe of our great God who has caused this journey and willed it to be. He chose for us to walk it and I am overjoyed/nervous/excited/reserved/passionate all at the same time! I know that if He has begun it, He will complete it, according to His will.

I want SO MUCH to show you their pictures, however we have chosen to wait until they are officially Neelys to do so. (so, a couple/few more months) BUT, I can't leave you without anything, so here is a crop of our son's hands and a bit of our daughter's forehead. See.. precious!!

 

Notice the bears in the background!! It's just so exciting that they can hear our voices. I hope the orphanage workers won't be too annoyed by them. Haha.

Our sweet friend over at gracenotwasted was so kind to take video and pictures of our precious babies. She held them and loved on them we will be forever grateful!  She also has had some crazy/amazing things to say about her journey so far! I encourage any of you who want to know what our journey might look like to head over to her blog and read the past 4 posts. WOW. Needless to say I know specifics to be praying already!! I spent two months in West Africa and it was life changing. Many of the things she mentions reminds me of my journey, however I can definitely say it was not as dangerous!! Check it out.. but be fore-warned.. it's a difficult read (emotionally!).

Now that we have a direction in which to go, we've been surveying our finances and are excited to share with you all that we've raised $16,000 of our (now) $20,000 goal!!! PRAISE OUR GREAT GOD! He truly owns a cattle on a thousand hills.. and all the hills the cattle stand on! (Thanks, Dr. Robinson at UM for always reminding us of this!)

SO .. we are on the Journey to the Finish Line.. of the start line (haha!). Seasons, seasons. We are thankful that we are seeing a light at the end of the tunnel for this season, however we are SO very grateful for this journey of waiting. It has been hard, so hard. I love how each season of life and sanctification brings about a different, but deeper (in ways) faith journey. God is so faithful! We know we still have a few months to go, and let me tell you, after seeing pictures, it will be a looong few months. =)

This "journey to the finish line" led me to think and pray about how we might raise this last $4,000 that will allow us to travel to bring our babies HOME. Remembering an idea from the adoption conference I attended back in March led me to the launch of our next (and possibly LAST) fundraiser:

10 TO THE END!

We are asking each family that feels led by the Lord to click our "donate" button on the top right side of our blog and donate $10 to help bring our babies home! 

Also- if you would like to go further, please share this vision with others that might be interested in supporting us!

If you feel led to help us to this finish line, we want you to know that we are so very grateful to you and your family. We pray God's richest blessings on you. 

Please remember that we covet your prayers most of all! Please continue to pray for us and for our babies that are many, many miles away. We cannot thank each of you enough for your love and support. 

Blessings,

Kimberly

We've Been Matched!! To God be the Glory!

We have BIG news!

We have been matched with TWINS from AFRICA! HA! Only God knew... :-).

We got an email from a missionary at the orphanage on Wednesday saying there are twins waiting for us! (Totally not expecting this..!) A boy and a girl, about 5 months old. PRAISE OUR GREAT GOD! We were all home, as we got the email before Nathan left for work. (So early....!) Thankfully, at the orphanage, they are 5 hours ahead, so the news was waiting for us when we woke up. We read it together and were just overwhelmed with excitement!

We honestly have no other details about them.  However, a good friend is leaving THIS SUNDAY to go get her little girl from the same orphanage! We were super excited to find out before she left. Now, Lord willing, she gets to take pictures AND video (!) of our babies!! She will hold them and tell them we love them and are coming for them! ALSO, we (very) quickly, mailed her two "stuffed-animal-blankies" with our voices on the inside to take with her and give to them. When the bear's noses are pressed, there is a message with all three of our voices!! This way they can get to know the sound of their family until we can get to them. :)

For those of you who might wonder, we bought the blanket-animals and then went to Build-a-Bear to get a "record-able-sound" to put inside of them. We had 10 seconds to record and this is what we said, "(Nathan) This is your daddy! (Kimberly) This is your mommy! (C) This is your sister! (Nathan) We love you (Kimberly) and can't wait to meet you (C) one day!" We had SO. MUCH. FUN. recording it!

Here are pics of C with them:

Many of our friends and family have asked, "What's next!?"

Here's a quick low-down:

The lawyer in Africa will begin all the paperwork for the twins (gathering birth certificates, death certificates (if applicable), signatures of any living family members, health tests from the doctor, etc) and file that, along with our paperwork in the courts over there. Once we "pass court," the babies will *officially* be ours. At this point, they will get new birth certificates with the "Neely" name on them and passports with their new names. An EXCITING day that will be!

Next, the paperwork will be mailed to our house. Upon receiving it, we will *immediately* =) scan it and send it to get translated into English.

Once we get the translations, off the paperwork will go to USCIS and AL DHR for US/State approval.  When we get their approvals, the information will be sent to the US Embassy in Africa and we can make Embassy appointments. Once we have the appointments, we BOOK FLIGHTS AND TRAVEL!

There is no possible way to know how long this process will take, but it can take as little as 3 months (VERY unlikely) or as long as... well, our guess is 6 or 7 months.

I would love to share more, but I am currently being "dressed up" by a very active 3 year old who *desperately* needs a playmate right now. Haha!

We're so excited and praising God! Praise God with us! To Him be the Glory!

Quick prayer requests:

*The courts will STAY OPEN in Africa (as the government is very, very "shaky" right now..) and our paperwork can be processed quickly.
*DHR will be easier to work with than they were with our friend.
*Our hearts will be content and we will "worship while we wait!"
*Our babies' health, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

THANK you, friends and family for praying for us, being excited with us, and praising our GREAT GOD.

By His Grace,

Kimberly

Gearing Up for Change

...[He] rules by His might forever, [His] eyes keep watch on the nations. Psalm 66:7b

I've been pondering this blog post for a while- as some things have "changed," and others are still in "limbo." I feel as if I need to have an update to give, instead of saying, "still waiting.........."

So the update is: We're still waiting! Ha. But in all seriousness, we have had one semi-change.  We heard from Africa recently that, though they have many kids at the orphanage, the families are not willing to give them up for adoption as of now. [There has to be signatures and statements of living parents and/or death certificates of parents in order to adopt a child. If both parents are not living, extended family members must give their consent by way of signature and statement.] What blows my little mind in regards to this, is that because there ARE so many children (100+), I would think we should be able to find at least one who's family would "sign off" to allow them to be adopted, and two if possible! However, so far this is not the case.  Of course, I fully believe it's God's sovereignty holding these family member's "yeses."  This is all going to happen in His timing and the child/children we will adopt will be perfectly and distinctly placed into our family.

Once we heard word that the missionaries are having a hard time finding a match for us (we turned our "letter" into them one year ago this month), we decided to put in our application and send our homestudy, etc to a local agency in Alabama. This was a tough decision, in a way, as we have such a heart for the nations.  It was hard because we know there are many children who go to sleep in orphanages night after night with no mommmies and daddies to tuck them in, who have one set of clothing, few, if any toys, and sleep in rooms with many other children or babies.  Of course, there are many orphanages with great workers who share Christ with these children, love them, comfort them when they cry, however the ratio of workers to children just cannot provide adequate love and comfort to each child. (Of course, we trust God to bring families to these children to be His hands and feet, or comfort them and love on them in supernatural ways that He is clearly capable of.) So it just made sense to us to go get one (then two!) of these children.  They are there, many in need, many waiting for a family.

However, we had no idea it would be this hard, no idea of the doors God might open, and then close.

So, we are currently in "limbo" as we have no idea if the situation in Africa will change in the near future or if the agency in Alabama will have a child for us soon either. What I do know is that God has given both Nathan and I a complete peace about the domestic agency, while not giving us a peace about shutting any doors in Africa.

If I can be completely raw here, this is a bit unnerving to me to say the least. (AKA, a perfect opportunity to "work my faith muscle." Haha)  The domestic adoption, if it works out would cost $22k+ and the Africa adoption, travel and all would cost about $18k+ (for two kids). I do not foresee (though God owns it all!) us having enough money to do both. Also, I have absolutely no idea how to plan, how much money to raise, or which to be excited about. But, what I do know is that God will completely take care of us and provide for all of our needs right on time. He has never left us, nor will He now.

The timeline for the domestic adoption looks to be from about 3 months up to a year from now. We will not know if we've been chosen by a birth mom, or anything until we get a phone call to come pick the baby up.  This usually happens 5 days after the baby is born because in AL, the birth parents have 5 days to change their minds.  The agency we are working with chooses to not let the adoptive parents know until they are sure the child is "adoptable."  Therefore, we would get a phone call one day (any day) and would drop everything, travel to the agency and pick up our new baby! Exciting, yet a bit crazy for me, as I'm a big planner. Haha.

There isn't, nor has there ever been a timeline for the Africa adoption.  We could get an email any day- on. However, what is important to note here, is that our homestudy and paperwork will expire in June of next year. It will be a big pain to deal with updating it, as everything will have to go back through two systems, USCIS and AL DHR. No fun, I tell you, no fun! Oh and not to mention the money that would go into this.  We prefer to not have to do this, however, if we have children waiting for us, we will do everything humanly possible to get to them!

All this to say, I feel confident (*Though feelings are not everything! God could have other plans..) that we are within months of bringing a child/children into our home to love.  Therefore, (especially due to the chance of a domestic phone call at any time) we are "gearing up," making sure we are stocked and ready for a baby.  Our daughter is almost 4, so it's been a while and it's amazing how much I have forgotten! Diapers, bottles,... what else?!

I know that a domestic adoption can seem to be a bit of a drastic change from what we've been moving towards for the past year and a half, but our hearts are still for the nations, and always will be. All the nations- including America. It's the heart of our Father, and now ours, as He promises we are being sanctified daily.  We will be grateful if one day He sends us overseas to share the gospel with those who haven't heard, or encourage and help to support our brothers and sisters, or to adopt. If and when that will happen, we do not know, but for now, we will, by His grace, abide.

I am thankful that His eyes are keeping watch on the nations! I am thankful that He is God and I am not. We get to trust that He's watching over all the little ones in orphanages.  And we get to trust that, in this season, we may not be the hands and feet He chooses to hold, love on them, and bring them home.  We get to trust that His ways are perfect.

Here we are, hands open. God, it's Your move. Show us, lead us.

He will.

Thank YOU for being apart of this journey. We could never fully express our gratitude for your giving, your prayers, and your love.

Please pray with us and hope with us... for all the waiting children... and the GLORY OF GOD.

With a heavy, but satisfied, heart,

Kimberly, for the Neelys

Worship While We Wait

"..godliness with contentment is great gain..." 

1 Timothy 6:6

For us, 2012 has been a year of waiting-- waiting on God to move, speak. Waiting. It seems to me that in our American culture, we expect things to happen yesterday. Things/life move(s) so fast. It seems there is never enough time, never enough to satisfy. I struggle with looking with anticipation to the next thing to be excited about, sometimes even before the exciting thing I am doing is even over. If that makes sense. Well, circumstances, along with a good friend, began to challenge me to take a few steps back and wait. Wait on God. At first, waiting a week was really hard for me. Now I think I can honestly say, waiting 6 months or longer is not nearly as hard as it once was. I think if I had known a year and a month ago (at our first fundraiser for this adoption) that we would not even be matched with kids over a year from then, I would have BEGGED to go in a different direction. However, the beautiful thing is, is that God is in charge and not me.

I am learning. I am learning to trust Him in ways I didn't know how to a year ago. I am learning patience (sadly, many times while complaining and dragging my feet, begging for another way). I am learning to listen. I am learning stillness. I am learning contentment. I am learning how deep sorrow can lead to joy. I am learning love. I am learning to be thankful.

There are times when God (painfully) uses almost every circumstance to lead me to what He wants me to learn. The past couple of weeks have been this way. I am currently reading the book One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I have been very encouraged while reading. It has challenged me to be thankful in every circumstance.

Our pastor has been preaching through Luke (although the past 3 months he has been cross referencing the beatitude "those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied" with Psalm 60-69). This morning, he challenged us to "say to God- How awesome are Your deeds" (Ps. 66:3a). He cross referenced in Ps. 106: "they forgot His works.." (v 13). They forgot and rebelled (v 43). Forgetfulness.. unthankfulness.. discontentment. This led to rebellion. Again, I was challenged to be thankful.

At one point, as an introduction to the beatitudes, he talked about the word "blessing(s)" and how we often use this word to refer to things we want or want to happen. However, for believers, the word actually should be used in every circumstance, good or seemingly bad. This is because we are blessed: accepted, approved by God (saved). It is not often that we hear, "I am so blessed that my house burned down," or "I am so blessed to have lost someone I love," or "I am so blessed to have cancer." ..."Blessed are those who mourn.." This brings me to the last, obvious thing God has put in my path. A song. 

You may have heard it. If you have or haven't, I recommend that you take a moment to listen and read the lyrics as you do. I hope it "blesses" you as it has me.

"Blessings" by Laura Story:

I feel as if on this life journey of sanctification until glory, I have been learning so vividly about God's sovereignty. I have been learning about His love. But what He is teaching me right now is to be thankful in every circumstance.

So here we are. Waiting. Learning. And being thankful.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" Jeremiah 29:11

What a journey.

Until they are home,

Kimberly ~for the Neelys

APPROVED!!

"Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." Psalm 46:10

We are praising God for His sweet grace to allow USCIS to approve us to adopt TWO babies/kids from Guinea Bissau! This is a huge step forward and we are dancing with joy! After a few "hiccups" and further paperwork by us and our amazing social worker, we have finally been approved for two. There were many moments of laying the concern of not being approved, or not being approved for two, down before the throne, knowing that God would cause it to happen if it was His will. We knew that He birthed two children in our hearts and continued to make provision for two with things like: someone giving us a van (Seriously!! Thank you-- you know who you are!), someone giving us an amazing double stroller (I can't imagine trips with two more kids without one! Thank you!), financial provision as our fundraising has continued to be blessed, etc-- but we knew that if USCIS approved us, it would be a HUGE conformation that He wanted us on this path. We are very grateful that this hurdle has been jumped and know there are many more ahead. Pray with us!

In other news, a government has been restored to Guinea Bissau. Not the government many of the people were hoping for, but at least things are up and running again. This is good news. Praying God works in the hearts of those in government as well as these corrupt military men. Oh God, have mercy on Guinea Bissau! For those of you who read our last post and prayed, thank you!

Lastly, I want to share that our yard sale in June was HOT, but successful nonetheless. We raised $700 in all (including donations). We are so thankful. $700-- in 2 days(!!), hot ones at that. God is faithful. Thank you to those who donated. You will not be forgotten!

Next up: "Around the World" Jewelry Party. We will be selling jewelry from around the world and most items will have a description of the people who made them and how we can pray for them. So neat. With each purchase, you will be helping to provide an income to those in third world countries as well as supporting our adoption. Contact us if you are interested in coming!

Here are some pictures of a few of the items we will have:

 To God be the Glory!

- The Neelys