Prayer Concern

Matt and I will have a couple of substantial bills coming due soon to the agency and a little over half is covered by the proceeds of the boat, but the rest is still a mystery. Please pray that God will provide the money and that we will have the assurance that God will provide. Thank you.

Baby's room

Well, after one coat of primer and two coats of paint the baby's room is done. There are few decoration type things that I am working on but for the most part it is done.

Maybe soon....

We received the July update from Bethany Christian Services and it stated that their are 10 expectant mothers, whose babies need to be placed before the end of the year. This gave us much hope that it could be soon. Please keep these ten mothers and babies in your prayers. Pray that they would be healthy and that they will make the best choice for them and their babies, whatever that may be. Also, pray that if one of these ten is our birth mom, that we will foster a good relationship with her from the start.

God is good....

Matt and I met with a Pastor from our church last night to help him fill out the reference form for the adoption application and when we were talking Matt said God is good. And it is wierd to think about going through the grief of infertility and still we say God is good. "He gives and takes away, my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name." He is a good God and He has a plan. GOD IS GOOD.

July 2010

Ah...this July weather is wonderful! We have finished our profile and now are waiting. We plan to paint Baby Miller's room this weekend. Our crib and changing table arrived a couple of weeks ago, we have registered at Baby-R-Us and Target, and we are beginning to feel like expectant parents. The journey will continue....

We are keeping a journal for Baby Miller, so they know the story of how they came to our family. Feel free to post anything here for the journal and we will add it.

Nursery pics will be posted when painting is complete.
Thanks again for your prayers and support.

Adoption update in June 2010

Dear family and friends~

At this point in our journey I am drawn again to Jeremiah 29. "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." We just finished our home assessment this week and we have so much hope. We,now more than ever before in this journey, know that this is God's will for our family. We are filled with so much hope for what the future brings. A plan to prosper us and not to harm. This journey has not been easy and at times it has been painful but we know the plans our God has for us are good. And He has brought us through this journey stronger then we started it. We still need God's guidance in our lives as we walk down the path that leads to Baby Miller. We would like you all to join in prayer with us for a couple of things. First that our condo in Syracuse would sell. I would like to take a proper maternity leave and can only do that if the condo sells. Secondly, be in prayer for our birth mother, whomever she may be. Pray that when we meet her we will know instantly. We know that God's already knows, we just pray that when we are presented with His will that we will know it. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us and continue to pray for us. We know there still could be pumps in the road as we complete this journey, but there is a renewed hope to reach the end now.

Many Blessings,
Matt and Mandy

Adoption Update April 2010

Psalms 37:23-24 23 If the Lord delights in a man's ways, He makes his steps firm,24 though he stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand.

Dear family and friends:

This is a verse that I stumbled upon today when I was thinking of this email and what I wanted to express to you about our adoption process this far. I was thinking how this journey involves so many steps but that each one has taught us something and reaffirmed what we feel God leading us to do. God is continually reminding us that what we are doing is His will for our lives. This journey has not been an easy one for me. At times it has felt very invasive and I will admit, that at times, I have questioned where He was in all this. Then I am reminded through a song on the radio or a verse that He is beside us walking this path with us and I take one more firm step forward. The most recent step forward in adoption process was to finish and send in our formal application. We finished up our application this week and sent it to Bethany on Tuesday. Then on Thursday night we received a call from Kelly Richards, our adoption specialist. She talked to Matt and explained some of our next steps. We hope to begin to meet with her in the next couple of weeks. Thus, begins our next step, the homestudy. I am sure like the steps so far it will come with much learning and possible hard times, but we will step firmly into it. We request that you keep us in your prayers in the next three months during this homestudy. We have a lot to learn about adoption and I know that God is still preparing us, as well.

Thanks again for all your support!
Mandy and Matt