Adoption journey

Over the past year, the Lord has been growing, teaching, and challenging our family in so many ways! We are responding to the Lord's leading and are expanding our family through the adoption of a precious baby!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Our new adoption journey!


Over the last few months God has placed on our hearts the desire to adopt a child from Ethiopia. We are so thankful for God choosing us and adopting us as His children through Jesus Christ. God’s gracious love for us is overwhelming and we have a desire to show God’s love to the nations.

In Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest countries, more than half of the population lives below the poverty line. Millions of people in Ethiopia face unceasing food and water shortages, and much of the population lacks access to clean water, health care, and education. The country is about twice the size of Texas and has an estimated 4.3 million orphans. The children are primarily orphaned due to poverty, and live in both government-run and privately established orphanages.

We are blessed to be the parents of two amazing boys, Evan and Benjamin! We are delighted to trust the Lord, as we expand our family through adoption. One of the scriptures that God has used to direct our journey is James 1:27; “religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” We have entered into the process of international adoption and we cannot do it alone. We are asking for your support and encouragement through this exciting journey, and your prayers as this process could last over a year and will require significant financial resources.

The financial burden of this process, approximately $30,000, is a little overwhelming. However, we are trusting that God, who is calling us into this journey, will provide for all of our needs. Would you join us on this journey by praying, helping through fundraising, giving financial contributions, and encouragement?  Some of our fundraising ideas include a benefit dinner, garage sale, cooking/bake sale, or other fundraisers. We would greatly appreciate any of your wisdom and help through this process of bringing our child home.

Please pray for:
(1)   Our family as we go through the long process of adoption
(2)   That God will provide all the funds to bring our child home to his new family
(3)   Evan and Benjamin through this transitional and exciting time in their life of getting a new little brother or sister; and for the time they will be away from mommy and daddy while we are in Ethiopia
(4)    The child that God has for our family.
(5)   That God would be given praise and glory through every step of our journey!

Thank you for all your love and support! 

Josh, Kelly, Evan and Ben

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Students are back!!!




Today is the first day of classes for Williams Baptist College... and we are so excited to have our students back on campus! I have already enjoyed getting to meet so many new faces of the largest freshmen class WBC has seen thus far! I'm looking forward to catching up with many of our students and hearing about the amazing ways our Lord used them in numerous different ministries across the globe!

We are already getting geared up for a couple new ministries I am privileged to participate in and launch! We are going to expand our faculty/staff ladies Bible study to the married student ladies on campus. April Newell and I will leading our group through John MacArthur's book, Twelve Extraordinary Women. Our study will take place on Thursday evenings in the Cove at 8pm, beginning September 16.

Another exciting new opportunity for married students ladies is our one time cooking class! Learn how to cook some easy and budget friendly meals, while enjoying great fellowship with your neighbors! We will learn to cook several meals, enjoy a meal together that evening, and send everyone home with an entire casserole prepared that day to share with their family! That is two FREE meals, recipes, fellowship, and FUN on Saturday, September 18 from 4:00 to 6:00pm at my home!

See our booth at WBC First Fair for more details on the cooking class and Bible study!