Coincidence? I Think Not!

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.  Ephesians 3:20 (The Message)

Coincidence? I Think not!

So often when things happen in our lives we think to ourselves, what a coincidence. This happened to my husband and I recently. We met someone for the first time, kind of random if you will. We found out that this person is a Christian. What a coincidence, so are we. We found out that this person likes Mexican food. What a coincidence, so do we! Seriously, I do not think any of this was a coincidence. I believe that God put us all in the same place at the same time for a purpose. I believe that we were able to talk and get to know this person a little bit because God had a purpose. One of the purposes was for this person to be an encouragement to my husband and I and I hope we too were an encouragement as well. We were able to share with this complete stranger about our adoption journey. Like most people we share our story with, this person told us how wonderful they thought it was. This is usually where the story ends, but this person, this complete stranger asks if they could make a donation to help with the expenses of the adoption. Of course we said no, that we had things all taken care of, NOT! We said that we would be grateful if they felt led to help us. This person pulls out a checkbook and writes a check for a significant amount. Coincidence? I think not. God knew that my husband and I needed a bit of encouragement and sent this person along to be that encouragement. It's not just about the money either, it is about the confirmation that situations like this bring to us that we are doing what God has called us to do. Thank you Lord for the sweet encouragement and thank you to this person who wants to remain anonymous. God used you to bless us.

Update on our adoption:

Our dossier has made it to the CCCWA and we are waiting on a Log in Date (LID). The biggest thing we are waiting on right now is the file to be completed on our little girl. It could be done anytime now, but it could also be two months from now. I am really praying that our adoption agency receives the file this month. This part has been by far the hardest part for me. Thank you for your prayers for our family, we do feel them.

Mother’s Day and More

Mother’s Day and More

I started this blog post last week and today I am finishing it with some exciting news.

Mother’s Day was a special day for me. Since my husband is a pastor getting away on a Sunday is not easy, but this year David took a vacation Sunday and we headed to Pinellas County. David was invited to preach at Starkey Road Baptist Church (this is the church we met and were married at and it is also the church where David was assistant Pastor after graduating from Clearwater Christian College in 1986). He spoke on a topic that is very dear to our family’s heart, “The Spirit of Adoption”. Since this is where all of my family lives, my parents, grandmother, 2 uncles, aunt, sister and a friend came to church too. It was a wonderful day. It was so nice to see “old friends” and meet new people and share what is going on with our family. After church we spent the afternoon at my sister’s house and had a great lunch (thanks mom). It was so nice to be with family on Mother’s Day.

My children gave me a funny card and a very pretty silver necklace with a charm that says “mother” in Chinese. At least this is what they tell me it says. J My husband bought me a t-shirt that says “mommy” in Chinese on the front of it and I love it! It was a great day with David and the kids, and of course our little girl was on everyone’s mind. I couldn’t help but think of next year and next Mother’s Day and having another daughter to spend the day with. Being a wife and mother has brought so much joy to my life and I thank God for allowing me to be both.

I took Monday off of work and we went to Adventure Island (water park). I was more than excited to have a day off of work. As we floated around in the “Lazy River” I couldn’t help but think about how our lives are going to change in the coming months and though I have struggled with discouragement with the speed (or lack of) with the adoption, I felt encouraged. I realized in the big scheme of things a couple more months longer than I was thinking is still not that long, and God’s timing is perfect. If we are not able to travel by the end of this year, God knows why and He has a perfect plan not just for us, but our little girl too.

Yesterday I mailed our last two documents to the Houston Consulate to be authenticated. Once we receive these documents back in the mail they will be sent to our adoption agency and our dossier will be translated and bound and then it will finally be on its way to China. We are praying for progress to have been made on the status of our little one’s file so that we can be matched very soon. I cannot wait for her to know that she has a mommy and daddy, 2 sisters and a brother. She also has a slew of other family members who are so excited about meeting her.

Today (5-21-12)

Today is a bittersweet day. I remember 4 years ago hearing the news that Maria Sue Chapman had been killed in an accident at the Chapman’s home. I didn’t know this family personally, but my heart ached for this precious family. I watched the memorial service when it was posted online and cried and cried as I listened to different people share memories about Maria. In the years since this accident, our family has become more acquainted with the work of Show Hope and their ministry to the fatherless. I heard Mary Beth speak at a Women of Faith conference and read her book, “Choosing to See”. Our oldest daughter read the book also and it was from reading this book that God put a desire in her heart to travel to China and visit “Maria’s Big House of Hope”.  And it was our daughter’s trip to China that began to open our hearts to the idea of adopting. So today, four years after Maria Sue Chapman went to be with Jesus and the very day my family received a letter in the mail letting us know that we have been awarded an adoption grant from Show Hope, the word that comes to mind is bittersweet. I am so thankful for the work of Show Hope and for the generous grant. Thank you, Steven & Mary Beth Chapman, for allowing God to use this tragedy to help bring children to their forever families. I am so sorry for the pain you must feel missing that sweet, sweaty, naked, sticky syrup hands little girl. Thank you for your testimony, that even in your sadness you have honored the Lord in your lives. I will always remember Maria Sue and the rest of the Chapman family when we look at our own sweet girl.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

Yes, it’s been one of those weeks. First an upsetting situation (not adoption related) happened that has had me quite upset and I have had to remind myself that ,yes, even in that situation, God is in control, God knows my heart, and most importantly God loves me. Even with other things going on our sweet little girl on the other side of the world is always on our minds. Two weeks ago we requested information about how her file was coming along. The good news is that it has finally past the “finding ad” phase, but the bad news is that it is not expected to make it to our adoption agency until at least June. It is so hard to hear and to know that there is nothing we can do to speed this part of the process up.  Or is there? Why is it we always forget the most important thing that we can do while we wait. We can pray that God will have just the right person pick up her file and get it to the place it needs to be, and if not then help us to know that this too is all part of God’s plan. I asked a question that I was not sure I wanted to hear the answer to, and that question is “Do you think we will be able to travel by the end of the year?” I was hoping to get a response like, “oh definitely you should be travelling by that time”. The real answer was “I don’t know if you’ll have her home by the end of the year”. That was so hard to read, but again I remind myself that God is in control and there is a reason that everything is taking so long. I can even think of good things (only a few J) that could come out of waiting a little longer, but if I was given a choice I would leave for China tomorrow.

 We should be receiving our I 797 approval any day and our dossier should be logged in sometime in May. Having an LID (log in date) for our dossier will definitely give us a feeling accomplishment and hopefully help when we finally receive that long awaited for referral.

Next week is a week for celebrating at our home. Our only son, Matt, will turn seventeen on April 26^th and our daughter, Abby, will hit the double digits that same day. Our kids are a huge part of why we chose to adopt. We have had such a great relationship with all three of them that the idea of adding to our family was exciting.  Happy Birthday Matt & Abby, we love you both so much!

Thank you for continuing to pray for our family. I know God hears each one of them.

I have not blogged in a while because until last week nothing had been going on as far as the adoption goes. Last week, however we (David, Katie, and I) were fingerprinted by the USCIS. We received our appointments for April 9^th at the Ft Myers office, but we walked into the Tampa office 2 weeks early and were taken without any problems and were in and out of the office in twenty minutes. Now we wait for our approval notice.  We had a good day, after fingerprinting we took Katie out for breakfast. It was her birthday, so it was nice to spend the day with her. I cannot believe she is 19!! After breakfast we went to Lifeway Christian Store, Target, and Ikea. This was fun because where we live we have a Wal-Mart, and a small mall where K-Mart is an anchor store. We went to Ikea to look for ideas for the girls bedroom and I think we found something. J

Anyone that knows me, knows that I am not a person to cry easily… until recent months. I think it began when Katie graduated from High School, then two weeks later when she boarded a plane (her first ever plane trip) bound for China and more specifically, Maria’s Big House of Hope. When she came home and shared all of her experiences and pictures from MBHOH, my heart broke for the orphans who might never know the love of a mommy and daddy. I would think about these orphans when I was alone, on my way to work I would just cry thinking of these sweet faces. Now my son makes fun of me because he says I cry about everything, maybe it’s my age, I don’t know, but it's not a bad thing when your heart breaks for what breaks His. Well, when we went to get fingerprinted, needless to say we were all excited to get this done and to move along with completing our dossier. I was first to be fingerprinted and when I was done I sat for a couple of minutes waiting for David and Katie to finish up. David was second and he walked over to me and said something How did I respond? I started crying, then we all laughed  With every little step it all becomes more and more real to me that one day we will be bringing home our daughter from China. I cannot wait for that day! I feel so incredibly honored that God would choose our family to answer the prayer of a forever family for a sweet little girl. As we are preparing to bring her home we and my parents have enjoyed buying some little things for her to enjoy when she is finally home. I’ve taken a picture of a few things, now I can’t wait to get started on the bedroom.

As you think of us, would you please pray that the file for our little girl would be completed soon and for our dossier to be completed soon. We are praying to have a LID in mid-May.

I heard this song a couple of years ago, I think it may have been on the Fireproof movie; but the words are so appropriate for this season in my life.

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait

Thank you all so much for your encouraging words to us and for your prayers. We do appreciate it.

By the way if you all like coffee, check out this website http://www.justlovecoffee.com/altmanadoption , if you make a purchase using that link our family will receive a portion of that sale toward the cost of our adoption. Thank you to those that have already purchased coffee, your support means so much.

Happy Valentine's Day

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows — this is God, whose dwelling is holy. God places the lonely in families.

Psalms 68:5-6

So it's Valentine's day and I am thankful for my Valentine today and every day, but I have to tell you that something else made my heart full of joy today. I read a blog about a very special little girl who found out that she now has a forever family. Katie met this little girl, Jessica, last summer at Maria's Big House of Hope and we have prayed for a family for her. It was so exciting to read today that just this week she found out about her new family and received a package from them.

Reading these blogs makes my heart long for the day when we can can finally send our little girl a package and pictures of her new forever family. We are trusting in God's timing but praying for miracles to help the process move a bit quicker. I want to use this extra time we have to learn more about adoption so that when we bring our little girl home we are as prepared as possible. I am reading a book that several people recommended to me called "The Connected Child". It seems to be filled with alot of valuable information.

It has been incredible to look back at the events that caused our family to become more aware of the needs of orphans. Though we had no idea at the time, Maria Chapman's short life here on earth was the beginning of our journey. Then Katie and I reading Mary Beth Chapman's book, "Choosing to See" was the next step in our journey. For Katie reading this book set into motion a desire to go to China on a short term trip to Maria's Big House of Hope. Excited that Katie could go minister at Maria's I was truly happy that God granted her the desire of her heart to travel to China last summer, but I really didn't know how this  trip could or would imapct me personally. When Katie came home hundreds of pictures later, the orphnas she visited had names and my heart began to ache for them. Now whenever I hear a story about an orphan being adopted into a forever family I am so full of joy. Actually, when I hear one of these stories I cry. So today I cried when I read Jessica's story, but they were happy tears! So to Jessica and your new family - Our family is so happy for you. God bless you all as you grow your family!

To read the blog about Jessica click here -

http://blog.showhope.org/2012/02/14/once-upon-a-time-the-best-valentine/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+showhopeblog+%28Show+Hope%29&utm_content=FaceBook

"I Know the plans.... Declares the Lord"

"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
So I have had to read this verse several times today and reminded myself of the promises that it holds. We received word today that our little girls file may not be ready for a few months. There was some delay in her paperwork and it looks like our adoption agency may not receive her paperwork unitl July. We were praying to be able to travel to China in July, but with this new development it may be more like November. I know in my head that God's timing is perfect, but my heart is hurting tonight. I also know that God could still work miracles and we could have her much sooner.
I was recently watching the movie "Soul Surfer" and there is a part in the movie when Bethany's Youth Pastor talks about being so close to a situation that you can't see it properly and it doesn't make sense, but as you move further away from whatever the situation is it begins to come into focus and you begin to see the big picture. I want God to help me see the big picture today and to claim His promises for my life and for the life of a sweet little girl in China waiting on her momma and baba.
Thank you for your prayers for our family.

Motivation

Isn’t it funny the things that motivate us? We have several projects around the house that needed to be done, but we have been putting off. Well with the home study coming up this weekend we were motivated to finally get some of these projects done. They weren’t things that had to be done for the home study, but we just wanted them to be done for it. I worked mainly in the house painting our bathroom and bedroom. My mom was here for the day and helped me a lot with the paint jobs.  Abby even got in on the action and helped us paint, then at lunch time she went around and took lunch orders for McDonalds. Painting is not a job I enjoy, but I just thought of that sweet little girl half way around the world with every stroke. My son, Matt, and I rescreened our back porch.  My sister and a friend worked in our back yard and did a lot of trimming of bushes and trees. I can’t thank them enough for all they did in our backyard. I was overwhelmed by what needed to be done, but they knew where to start and had a vision. My dad and my husband hauled 1500 pounds of yard brush to the County landfill, which by the way is A LOT of brush. Katie was also home for the weekend and did several jobs around the house. Thank you mom, dad, Debbie, Nola, Katie, Matt, and Abby for helping us get so much accomplished in one day.

Friday night David, Matt, and I attended a play at the Highlands County Little Theatre with some special friends of ours, Bernie and Irene Golde. It was the Diary of Anne Frank with Anne Frank being played by Rebecca Luepschen. Rebecca is Matt’s girlfriend and she did an awesome job. If you live in or close to Highlands County, I highly recommend you go see this play.

Again I ask for your prayers for our home study this weekend. If any of you that have been through this process have any suggestions or information you’d like to share with me about what a home study is like, please send me a message.

Another prayer request I have is for a friend, Karen Rapp and her family. They are also adopting a little girl from China. They are a little further along in the process than us, so right now they are waiting to get their LOA (letter of acceptance) and then their travel dates to go get there little girl Julia. Pray that all of this would happen quickly.  I have attached a picture of their little girl and she is beautiful.