Video that I ABSOLUTELY Love!

Walking in His Will Even During Obstacles...

I've noticed (as I'm sure many of my Christian friends have as well) that when you have faith in Jesus, recognize Him as the epi-center, the Lord and Savior, of your life, that Satan doesn't particularly like that. He does all he can to destroy that faith by attacking anything and everything that will cause you to stumble and fall into sin. But, in my opinion, his favorite vicious efforts, is his attacks on families by causing animosity, discouragement, despair, mistrust...you name it and he will use it against you and your family. Anything for you to give up your faith in Christ, turn away from God's will and turn to him, the prince of this world.

I have noticed that in our recent plans to adopt, he is well at work again. Of course, Daniel and I are wise to his schemes and realize that we are truly doing God's will by pursuing this adoption because of Satan's miserable attempts to derail us. Let me share a few things that he already has thrown our way in the short time we've decided to adopt:

It began with a small oil leak in our car. Within a short week and a half the small drip turned into Old Faithful! Using 5 quarts of oil in 4 days. I was sure that a seal had broken and we were looking at least a $600 repair cost. That would definitely set us back on our attempts to save up for those intial adoption fees. Discouragement began to set in. I was afraid. Afraid that maybe we would never raise enough funds. Never get this started. Never see our son...due to too many financial obstacles making it impossible!

Praise be to God, as the fix was a $40 oil filter. But I saw, quite clearly, what Satan was trying to do. It isn't the incident itself that he was using to derail me, it was the discouragement, fear and heartbreak he was using through this trial to try to get us to shrug off the idea of adopting. He wants us to believe that the idea of adoption was insane! We are middle class! We can't afford this! We have too many other obligations...instead of trusting that God will make it all work, will pull things together and we must be patient and wait on Him.

Another immediate obstacle we faced, was sparks shooting out of an outlet in our kitchen! Yes, terrifying and discouraging. I began to think that we would have to have a total wiring make-over, but again God came through! The microwave we had was the culprit and we just needed to replace the outlet with a safer one, a mere $16 fix and our wonderful friends, Matt and Carrie, gave us an extra microwave they'd had in storage, so we didn't have to spend anything on replacing the flamethrowing, fire hazard threatening our home!

Satan doesn't stop at using these kinds of things to dissuade us from following God's will. I have seen that he's slithering in between Daniel and I. Small arguments over things that are insignificant. Snapping at each other and not keeping respect and honor high in our marriage. After the first day this happened, the same day as the flame-throwing outlet incident, I realized that we were under attack. And severely. So, I prayed. I prayed that God would not let me forget that He was standing firmly beside us during this time. That He was the anchor in this endeavor and that we are his vessels. That there is a small boy out there somewhere that the Lord wants to come home to our family and I prayed for strength against these attacks so that our son can come home, as God wills it to be.

We recognize the attempts for what they are: Opposition to God's Will being done. Adoption is God's plan. Not just for the children who find themselves without homes, but for those of us who follow Christ. Through His blood, the faith that we have in it's power to save, we have become the adopted sons and daughters of the Lord. I can not, now that I have begun on the adoption journey, turn aside. If God loves me enough to bring me into His family, I must do the same for the faceless boy who God has already destined for us.

So I stand firm, although the ground often feels shaky. Psalm 27 is my comfort in these days of daunting challenge. Verse 14 reminds me to stay courageous, 'Wait on the LORD; Be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the LORD!'

God Bless and thanks to those of you who are in prayer for us Laceys:)

Terry

Application Submitted and some other thoughts

So after filling out 13 different steps on the AWAA website, we finished the application, submitted a family photo, sent in our letter of request and paid our processing fee we are now invested and on the official journey of adoption!

I filled out as much as possible during the day and had Daniel review all the info after he got home from work. (He only had to make one change so I thought I did pretty darn good!) Off it went and we will hear in approximately 10 business days from the agency that they have processed our information.

I feel exhausted and we've only just begun!

We did specify that we were interested in the Waiting Child Program. This means older children (usually 3 and older) or a child with special needs. The wait time on these children is shorter (hopefully) because they are 'harder' to place. The fact that a child is 'hard' to place, breaks my heart. How do you look into the eyes of a special needs or older kid and tell them they are less loveable than a healthy infant?? That they aren't as 'valuable'as a healthy child?? Aren't all children equally valuable to those who love them?

On another note, the Yard Sale was a HUGE success! We made $426 in 6 hours! Thanks to all the families that donated stuff to help us along with our adoption. I can't wait until our son comes home and you all can see the fruition of your support!
God Bless,
Terry and Daniel:)

The Journey Continues...

Well, it's been a couple weeks of trying to pinpoint some things, but Daniel and I feel that, though the need for homes for children worldwide is great, Haiti is calling our names. Approximately half the population of Haiti is under the age of 16 and 80% of the population lives in poverty. ($2 a day poverty, not $12000 a year poverty).

Also, our good friends, Ray and Laura Hulse, have served several short term missions in Haiti and through their stories, we feel a bond to the people and the land of Haiti. Their trips and experiences have touched our hearts and we strongly feel the urge to welcome a Haitian cutie into our home! We love you guys and admire the work God does through you and your mission work!

I also want to shout out praise and thanks to God for rallying such an outpouring of support for our first upcoming fundraising event! So many families from our church home, Shadow Mountain Church, as well as my family, the Moranos from New Hope Church, have donated tons of clothes, furniture, electronics and other goods, that we will have a massive yard sale this coming Oct. 8th! We love all who have been supportive and donated.

Ongoing prayer for our experience is much appreciated, especially since Tayler has expressed some small concerns about having another sibling. I did not think for one moment that, for our kids, it would be all smiles and sunshine when we decided to adopt. So prayer for an easy transition for them as siblings. Prayer for their hearts to open and their eyes to see that when God called their parents to a great, yet scary, experience, that we weren't afraid to tell Him no. (not that a mere mortal really could!)

Blessings and thanks to many! We love everyone who has given support and items! We love the Hendrens for their continued promptings forward! (no, Angie, I still LOVE all the info you email me! Keep it up).
Terry