Entertain'n Angels: September 2011

Every Tuesday I eat my lunch with a group of senior ladies known around the church as "The Sewing Ladies". Yesterday as we finished our lunch and the ladies went back to sewing I overheard a conversation between two of them sitting across from me. One asked the other, who is that guy sitting across from us? The answer...that's Jordan. Next question...does he work here? Answer....yes, that's Jordan, he works with the youth. Next question...we pay him? Answer....yes. Final statement and question... well I've never seen him before, are they going to make an announcement about him? On that note, I left the room. I'll begin my 5th year of service at this church in Jan. 2012!

So, this all made me think; if that old lady doesn't even know my name, or that I've been working at her church for nearly five years I doubt she knows anything about our adoption, that we're foster parents, or why we're even adopting in the first place... and that leads me to the post I'm about to write.

Reading this book "Love Has a Face" has caused me to travel down the history of the last 4 years over and over again mainly because that's what the author is writing about....how God has led her from one point to the next, bringing her to where she is now. It's a life full of love and blessings, but in the most unusual places and people.

The history of what led us to adopting from the Democratic Republic of Congo is as follows;

I can remember years ago when Lindsey and I were dating we would have these daydreaming conversations about getting married and having a family. One thing that was always a part of our daydreaming was the desire to adopt children in addition to having our own. In my minds eye though, adopting would be something we'd do later in our marriage when we were firmly established and had children of our own. It'd be a mission of sorts, a ministry, a way of giving back. While I don't think that was a bad idea, it wasn't God's plan for us....

4 years ago last week I married my best friend Lindsey after 5 years of dating, and it's the best decision I've ever made! She is the most beautiful, talented, caring, and thoughtful woman I know. And yes I know I'm biased, but I ain't ly'n one bit!

September 22nd 2007 Lindsey and I were married and we spent the next year hoping, praying, and trying to start a family. On August 8th 2007 Lindsey and I found out she was pregnant! What an awesome birthday present, as mine was just 3 days later. Just a few weeks later we spent our first anniversary picking out baby names for our first child. Sadly, one week later we suffered and miscarriage and God decided he needed our little angel with him in Heaven. We were heartbroken, depressed, defeated, and angry with God. It took me the next year to come to terms with what had happened. I say that I've come to terms with what happens, but that doesn't mean the pain is gone. A portion of the pain is meant to stay I think. It's there to remind me of what's happened. It's there to show me how God brought us through such a difficult chapter in this life and has made us stronger because of it. And it's there to be a daily reminder that I should never take a day for granted, I should never take my wife for granted, I should never miss the chance to love on my foster sons because tomorrow isn't promised to anyone.

Did I say foster sons? Moving on...

Some where in the neighborhood of 2009 my wife and I started casually discussing adoption. To me it was no more serious then we had talked about it in lives as a dating couple. I think it was much different for Lindsey. As the weeks and months went by she became more persistent with the subject and she kept bringing up foster parenting. Now, if ya know me I'm not one to rush into anything. And if you know Lindsey you know that when she wants to do something, by golly she's going to do it! I wouldn't call it pressuring me, but after months of 'persistence' Lindsey convinced me that we should go the route of becoming foster parents. She said, I feel this is what God has called me (us) to do with my (our) life. Who could argue with that? So, in the spring of 2010 we began 9 weeks of P.R.I.D.E. (foster parent training) classes at a small Lutheran Church in Knoxville, IL every Monday night for 3 1/2 hrs. Nearly 4 months later after new smoke detectors, hot water no more than 105 degrees, child safety locks, lock boxes for meds, out of reach places for cleaning chemicals, countless pages of paperwork, fingerprints, back ground checks, hours of home visits with case workers, liscincing agents, and social workers we were finally licensed foster parents with Lutheran Social Services! O Boy (literally)!

We got our first placement call right before Labor Day 2010. We got called on a Thursday inquiring if we'd take a two day old baby boy. No more information than that. Will you take a two day old baby boy? Yes, of course we will. 24 hrs went by. No baby. 48 hrs. No baby. We sat at New China with Lindsey's parents Labor Day morning wondering when if ever this baby would arrive. 72 hrs. No call. No baby. Nearly 96 hrs later (the longest 96 hrs of our lives) my phone rang. The baby is leaving the hospital now and we can be at your house in 20 minutes, do you still want him? Yes!!!!

Lindsey and I rushed home and shortly there after 8 day old baby "Bubba" arrived with two social workers. The brought a crib, a few diapers, and 4 bottles of pre-made formula. They asked for our social security numbers and basically said, 'here ya go...raise this child' and left. Lindsey's parents showed up along with our Pastor and his oldest son. I don't think our jaws had come off the floor yet as we were still in awe of this little angel now in our care. I remember our pastor brought us diapers and prayer (much needed prayer)! For the next two months we loved on little Bubba as if he were our own. As knew parents we had a lot to learn. I remember when I got my first dog, Scooby. He was a pound puppy and he peed on me and I told Lindsey that must mean he loves me. I told her the same thing when Bubba peed on me for the first time too (HaHa).

Since becoming a foster parent it's changed a lot about how Lindsey and I live our lives. It's changed our relationship with each other. And its changed our relationship with God. All of them for the better! Its definitely changed the way I pray, I find myself praying daily for our foster children's lives and their parents. I pray that these little ones would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I pray the same for their parents and I pray that God would cause them to become the parents these children most desperately need. I also pray daily that the Lord's will be done and that he'd give us the strength to live with in his perfect will no matter how difficult that might seem. Our willingness to follow through with that prayer was put to the test two months to the day after Bubba came to live with us. My phone rang and it was our Case Worker telling us that the judge had decided that the child should return home....we had 12 hrs notice. Lindsey and I spent that night holding Bubba, holding each other, and crying. God's will, huh? This is God's will, to cause us more pain, I remember thinking. The next morning Lindsey cried as she went to off to school and at 9am they came for Bubba. I sobbed as a put him in his carseat and he smiled at me when I kissed him for the last time. We've never seen Bubba sense. And I swore I'd never get a named tattooed on me, but the next week there I was at Hawk's Tattoos getting a pair of angel wings, the name Bubba, and 1st Cor. 1:26-28 tattooed on my right hand.

1st Cor. 1:26-28 says, "Brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things - and the things that are not - to nullify the things that are."

God was thinking of all the little Bubbas out there when he gave Paul these words! through our time as foster parents our house has only been childless for about 6 weeks. Baby number two came along in similar fashion to Bubba... NO WARNING! It was Sunday afternoon in early November 2010. A call from a Case Worker came with the request...will you take a 10 month old? Yes! Sunday night baby Jayden came to us! The same crib that came with baby Bubba showed back up and so I had to put back together the crib I'd just taken a part not quit a month before. Jayden was an awesome little guy. He learned to walk and talk with us. He called me Da Da and that was a first for me. The thing that made baby #2 different from #1 was that we knew when he arrived the date he would return home. You'd think that'd make the sting of losing him a little less painful, but it didn't. And angel wing tattoo #2 followed soon after with the scripture reference of Hebrews 13:2. "Don't forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have shown hospitality to ANGELS without knowing it."We were able to make a long lasting relationship with Jayden and his mom. That's been such a blessing! We even recently got to baby sit Jayden for an afternoon and he got to spend time with baby Nate...which bring us to our current angel and if you're keeping track that's baby #3!

Baby Nathen arrived Feb. 17th 2011, he was barely 6 lbs. I called him a little P-nut. He was to arrive when he was 6 days old but didn't actually show up until he was almost two weeks old (and I thought waiting 96hrs was a long time). Nate the Great will turn 8 months old this Saturday! Time flies when you're having fun and everyday we have with him is a blast! Nate is one big ? as to how long he'll be with us. We'd love for it to before, but for now his goal is 'return home'. As much as we'd love for him to be our first forever child that may not be God's plan and so we pray for the strength to live in God's will no matter what that may be. Nathen means 'gift from God' and he most definitely is that. He's crawling, pulling up, getting into everything, says MaMa DaDa, and is the world's best snuggled (sorry Scooby you've been dethroned)!

During this season of foster parenting we've been exploring the idea of international adoption. This has been a challenge for me because I've viewed adoption the same way I've viewed mission work - there's plenty that can be done right here in the U.S. However, now that we've been foster parents for over a year we totally understand why people don't go the foster route. We've also learned how difficult the domestic adoption route is too. After much prayer and discussion we felt God's calling to Africa. Specifically the Democratic Republic of Congo (formally Zaire). Why the Congo you might ask? I duno, ask God. We looked at a lot of different countries, but God kept bringing it back to DRC. With our minds made up and God on our side we began the long journey of international adoption...

We spent this past summer meeting weekly with our international adoption licensing worker to fulfill our home study requirements, both for the national & international adoption agencies. Sadly, becoming a licensed adoptive home isn't much different from becoming a licensed foster home which made me angry a lot wondering, why can't they just serve for both? I suppose it's to make sure a person's will is the same as their want. In August we finished our home study!!! Two weeks ago DCFS approved our home study!!! Last week our international agency approved our home study!!! So, what's that mean now? Well, we're into grant writing and hopeful for a good return. We're into filling out our i600 and then we wait....how long? At the earliest we may travel in march 2012 to DRC and bring two little angels home!

I know this has been a lot of reading, but it's felt great to tell our story. We are thankful for all those who have taken the time to read our blog, pray for us, and support us in so many ways. Lindsey and I are forever grateful to all of you! I wish I could make this post more exciting by showing pictures of our 3 little angels, but we're not allowed to do so.

Blessings,

Jordan & Lindsey

P.s. sorry for any spelling/grammar errors. I hope you meant what I know.

My birthday was last month and I received a book from my mother in law entitled "Love Has a Face". She asked the other day if I'd read the book, to which I responded, I've read a bit....Lie. Sorry Mom. Anyways my guilt led me to crack the cover today and what I read brought a lot of tears.

Heidi Baker writes;

"I was left with one lone visitor. He was a slim man of middle age. his shoulders sagged under and unseen weight. he looked heavier than i felt. i walked over to him and introduced myself. he went on to tell me that his daughter had died in childbirth a few weeks back. she had given birth to a small son. with the mother gone, his family had no way to feed the baby. it was a story that has repeated itself countless times in these parts. according to some, southern Sudan is the second most expensive place in the world. Yes, you read the words correctly. it is second to Tokyo. in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba, a small mud hut worthy of being condemned can go for a s much as two thousand U.S. dollars a month. and it costs well over a hundred dollars a month to feed an infant on formula. the average salary, if a person is fortunate enough to have one at all, is about half that. the grandfather told me the this baby, not yet two weeks old, had been fed on cornmeal and water. the options were obvious. if we did not take this little one, he would certainly die. i told the man to bring me the baby so we could see him. i knew how dangerous this would be. he was my first baby. i knew that as soon as i laid eyes on him, there would be no letting him go, no matter how expensive he was. as the man left our compound to retrieve the baby, i asked God, 'What is the baby's name?' Immediately the reply came His name is Immanuel. I thought God was being figurative and was trying to give me encouragement that He was with us, as Immanuel means God with us. A short while later the man returned with a small bundle in his arms. i looked at this tiny form almost completely hidden by the four layers of fabric wrapped around him. i asked what the baby's name was, 'his name is Immanuel,' the man said. I could scarcely believe my ears. God, are you really here? i had asked. my silent prayer had been answered in a baby named Immanuel. Tears began to build in my eyes. with wonder i took him in my arms, peering into the sleeping face of God's answer to my question, and thus baby Ima became our smallest family member yet. He was frail and sickly, but he was a fighter. he survived all the faltering attempts of someone who knew nothing about babies. he lived through a measles outbreak and a cholera epidemic. he made it through growing up his first year in a large family. now he is a downright fat toddler. every day he toddles around on his chubby legs with a huge grin that continually reminds us, God is indeed with us."

When Nate showed up on our doorstep we didn't know his name. We knew it was a little boy who was barely 6LBS and needed a loving home. Later we learned his name was, Nathen which means 'gift from God'. That's what Nathen is, a gift from God. He is a daily blessing. We trust that there are two gifts from God somewhere in Africa right now and we pray they have someone like Heidi in their lives! We love and pray for our future forever children. We love and thank God daily for our foster son Nate the Great!!!

p.s. thanks for the book mom!