God's Surprises are So Good!!!!!

God works in mysterious ways!

We have had one of the craziest, blessed summers ever.
It was our 11th anniversary on July 2nd. (Wow, makes us sound old,LOL.) We went on our annual big date night, dinner and a movie. It was a wonderful evening. Then we woke up to a Saturday with nothing on the calendar (completely unheardof), so we spent a great day as a family.
We went to Danny’s office to do some paperwork. I signed up to be a Thirty-One consultant. . I loved and wanted everything in the catalog so thought this would be a great part-time fit. I figured it would be something that Brynn and I could do together and all the commissions we made could go to the adoption of our sweet babies in Rwanda. The four of us plus the dog then headed down for a walk along our newly flooded river. We spent about three hours just walking and playing and taking some casual photos for our dossier. Then headed home to make a mexican feast. Funny thing is…we probably called ten people to invite them for dinner and NO ONE was available. We were trying to think that it was because of the Holiday weekend but it was God’s plan
After dinner, we were all lounging in our pjs getting ready for bed when I hear Danny’s phone ringing upstairs; we let it ring and after a couple minutes he went and found it and listened to the message that was left.
Here comes the good part:
You should have seen his face. I have never seen his eyes so big or his jaw drop so fast. He couldn’t even tell me what it was he just put the phone on speaker, held it out, and said,”listen”.
“Hi Dan and Kelly. This is _____. I got your name from someone at your church and wanted to talk to you as soon as possible. I am with a woman up at the hospital who just gave birth to a baby girl and needs to give her up for adoption and is looking for a good, Christian home. So if you are interested give me a call back.”
I was crying and I have to tell you I dialed the phone number back pretty quick. I can’t share too many details, but long story short. We got to meet with and talk to the birth mom (amazing woman, please pray for her). We felt the Lord’s presence so strong in that room and He ordained everything! Nothing was even the least bit uncomfortable, God is so amazing. We never thought that a domestic, closed adoption would ever be part of the plan, God knew better
We brought home a completely healthy, beautiful, brown baby girl on Monday, July 5th. Her name is Tehlia Eden Hope Barnes. The name Tehlia means “richly blessed”!









Well, there it is surprise! God now has us on a whole new road that we didn’t even know about. Unfortunately, we had to withdraw our Rwandan adoption from our agency. We can reapply when she is six months but cannot submit our Dossier until she is one year. We are still praying about all this. This has been such a shock and so different than what was planned for that we aren’t sure what we are going to do. We need to make sure that our three kids now are completely settled before moving forward with anything else.

We Need Prayer

I am asking my bloggy friends for prayer. There is a major spiritual attack on my family. These are some of the events that have happened just since we started the adoption process: water leak and mold in the bathroom resulting in an unexpected remodel; Husband-Danny in a car accident; Son-Branten broke his wrist so ER, Doctors, cast, x-rays, etc; and just this past Friday I was in an accident. I was taking myson and 6 friends to Karate Kid for his birthday and an older lady ran through a yield sign and straight into the side of our SUV. Thankfully no one was hurt on either side.

I am completely convinced that Satan does not like that we are going to bring two orphans home to live in a loving, God-filled home and that is why there is such opposition and attack on our family.

Please join with us and pray against these attacks so that the Father's heart can shine through the Barnes family.

Blessings!

Did you hear that?

Have you ever just felt like God smacked you upside the head, well this morning I literally felt it!

I was reading a blog last night about simplifying our lives and was trying to figure out where to start with all the "stuff" that clutters my life...spent all night just thinking and pondering which pile to tackle first. I ended up falling asleep with only the dishes done and a load of laundry in.

When I woke up this morning my mind started turning again and I said "Lord, can you give me some ideas on where to start?" and, wait, here comes the smack, He said, "Well, are you going to talk to me and spend time with me first?!?"

OUCH! What was I thinking. If only I would take time to be with my Heavenly Father and I already know that He only wants the best for me. He will show me exactly where to start to unclutter and simplify. He is just telling me to start with my life and my heart.

Blessings!

IT'S OFFICIAL

Well, finally, I received word from AWAA that we have been accepted into the Rwanda program. It's actually happening! Now our "paper pregnancy" begins. I am so excited. It seems like I have been waiting to "start" for an eternity.

Juat wanted to share the great news that in about a year and a half we will have our two new family members home with us!!!!!!

Have a blessed weekend!

Rwanda Country Information

I found this information on a blog I follow, brunosadoptionadventure.blogspot.com

"Rwanda, one of the poorest countries in the world, is a beautiful country struggling under the weight of the devastating genocide that occurred in 1994, when over 800,000 Rwandans were brutally murdered – leaving families decimated and the country’s infrastructure in shambles. In the aftermath of this tragedy, poverty increased, particularly among children. Half of Rwanda’s population is under the age of 18. Most of these children live on less than $1 a day. The infant mortality rate remains high at 37 per 1000 live births, and illnesses like HIV/AIDS have created a new wave of orphans. (Source: UNICEF)

Since the genocide, Rwanda has made great strides in advancing its economy and stabilizing its government; however, the orphan crisis has been largely unaddressed. In the entire United States, with a population exceeding 300 million people, there are 130,000 adoptable children . Compare that to the nearly 860,000 orphans in Rwanda - a country just the size of Maryland, with total population of 10.7 million people. This number of Rwandan orphans includes children in orphanages as well as an orphan group made up entirely of ‘child-headed households’. “Rwanda has one of the world’s largest proportions of households that are headed by children (i.e. children raising children) with an estimated 101,000 children heading up some 42,000 households.” (UNICEF, 2004)
Until 2008, Rwanda did not allow international adoptions. Because Rwanda has just recently opened to international adoption, the country does not have the same advanced adoption resources and infrastructure as seen in the United States and other countries. There remains an overall lack of awareness of the crucial needs and life-threatening conditions that Rwandan orphans face."

The Process Begins

So right now I am taking a break from filling out our application for adoption to AWAA for the country of Rwanda. Wow! Yep. I said it. Rwanda. I know that this is not the first country that we have looked into and prayed about but the govt in Haiti is not moving off the 35 age for parents. I know God has something for us here but not sure what. My heart is still broken for this beautiful country and its people.

I know that God has our kids in His hands and is holding them safe until they are home with us...and who can say that the kids in Haiti are more in need of homes then the children in Rwanda. I can't. No one can.

All I know is that there are too many kids, all over the world, laying in cribs in dark drab rooms waiting for someone to love them, and hold them, and rock and sing to them. Someone to whisper to them and say how incredible and special they truly are. A mom and dad to tell them about a Father that designed them andwho has ordained every second of their life and who longs to own their heart and fill it with His love!

So for now we are still praying, and waiting, and filling out LOTS of paperwork :)

Brynns 8th Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Brynn’s birthday a week or so early this year. We had it on Easter Weekend, that way all the family could come down for a three day weekend.

It all started on Friday when my niece Halli helped me make the birthday cake. We spent about 5 ½ hours working on it and it turned out awesome!

















She was a little nervous about the sparkler candles












But blew them out anyways.




Then came the presents…











And then the Easter Egg Hunt…










And all, well most, of the cousins with their bags of eggs and candy













When we were all stuffed full of candy, we headed to take the kids to a movie, How To Tame Your Dragon.



It turned out to be a pretty great day!





We also had a family picture taken. Not an easy task....last one was three years ago.

Crazy Love Challenge

One of the blogs I follow is A Place Called Simplicity. This is a beautiful family with an amazing story of God's love and faithfullness! She is having a Crazy Love Challenge and felt compelled to share our families story.

We are fundraising for our adoption of 2 children (God-willing). We are currently making homemade breakfast burritos and special occasion cakes to help with the fees. We started the process in August 2009, really feeling like God was putting Haiti in our hearts. We started our home study and in Sept. sent our pre-application in to the agency. (At this point we met all the requirements perfectly…married over 10 years, minimum 30 years old, and no more than 2 biological children at home.) Two days later, the Haitian govt changed the adoptive parent age to 35, so our application was denied. We were heart-broken,and confused but kept believing because my heart still knew that this is where our kids were!

When the earthquake hit in January, my heart sunk more and mourned for all those who experienced it and all the new orphans who need homes.

I have been frustrated lately and started looking into other countries. I have even sent out several emails to a couple agencies requesting information on several African countries. The funny thing is is that with all the emails I have sent out over the last 3 weeks regarding these other nations I have not received one bit of information back!!! God works in mysterious ways! I know that His ways are not our ways and through all the events that have happenedthis this is His way of telling me that our kids are still waiting for us in Haiti and we need to trust Him.

Adoptions there are now open again, but the age-challenge has not changed; but I know that I know that my God works in the spiritual and no physical boundary can stop him!
So for now, we are finishing up our Home Study, continuing to fund-raise, and praying for our babies to be safe and come home soon!

Blessings!
Kelly

Brynn's Big Heart

Brynn cut her hair on December 29, 2009. She wanted to give it to the kids with cancer, so we donated it to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. I am so proud of her. What a huge, giving heart she has.

(Sorry the order is backwards...haven't quite figured this thing out yet.)