Monday, November 29, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
"Strength will rise up as we wait upon the Lord, we will wait upon the Lord."
Ever thought about the words to this song? We had a guest this weekend at church who sang this song, and usually I just sing along to this one because it has good rhythm, but this week I found myself thinking about the words. Many times I find myself thinking about the words I am singing and it's hard to even sing, the Lord comes and touches my heart, like no one can. He fills me up with emotions, that I find myself wondering why he would love me so much, to have such grace on me as I walk this path called life. This path called life is not a easy one, and he did not promise it would be. But he did say that "he would never leave us or forsake us"
So what do these words mean, strength will rise up as we wait upon the Lord?
Well to me I know that for over 2 years we have been following God's plan to adopt and as I was telling a friend the other day, I remember praying for a bi-racial little girl to come into my home and let us love on her. This is the first prayer I asked for 2 years ago. We have had boys and girls of all different kinds of races, but no bi-racial girl til this last one arrived.
We have been through some tough times the last 2 years, waiting on the Lord, but I pray that you all see that while we have been through all of this, we have been waiting on him, and we still are.
We do not have a answer from him, but while we wait upon him, we know that he reigns forever, and he is are hope and our strong deliver. I know he has a answer for us, and I know that I have been human at trying to figure out his plan, I really wrack my brain sometimes, trying to look back and see who, where and when God used us to get to the point of where we are now.
The date Feb 8, is a date I can not get out of my mind. It's a date that means so many things to me, the date Journie was born, the date that little Peanut was placed into foster care with the Paulsens, the date that our social worker said was the approx date to look for her to be up for adoption, cool huh?
So while you are on this journey with us, look back, where where you a year ago? What was God doing in your life at the time, where are you now? What is is asking you to do?
Follow his plan, because at the end of the song, we will have more strength to praise him, because we sat in his presence and waiting for him to lay out the plan for our lives, you know.... the plan he has for us, not to harm us but to give us hope and a future :)
Love you all, have a great Tuesday !!
So what do these words mean, strength will rise up as we wait upon the Lord?
Well to me I know that for over 2 years we have been following God's plan to adopt and as I was telling a friend the other day, I remember praying for a bi-racial little girl to come into my home and let us love on her. This is the first prayer I asked for 2 years ago. We have had boys and girls of all different kinds of races, but no bi-racial girl til this last one arrived.
We have been through some tough times the last 2 years, waiting on the Lord, but I pray that you all see that while we have been through all of this, we have been waiting on him, and we still are.
We do not have a answer from him, but while we wait upon him, we know that he reigns forever, and he is are hope and our strong deliver. I know he has a answer for us, and I know that I have been human at trying to figure out his plan, I really wrack my brain sometimes, trying to look back and see who, where and when God used us to get to the point of where we are now.
The date Feb 8, is a date I can not get out of my mind. It's a date that means so many things to me, the date Journie was born, the date that little Peanut was placed into foster care with the Paulsens, the date that our social worker said was the approx date to look for her to be up for adoption, cool huh?
So while you are on this journey with us, look back, where where you a year ago? What was God doing in your life at the time, where are you now? What is is asking you to do?
Follow his plan, because at the end of the song, we will have more strength to praise him, because we sat in his presence and waiting for him to lay out the plan for our lives, you know.... the plan he has for us, not to harm us but to give us hope and a future :)
Love you all, have a great Tuesday !!
Monday, November 8, 2010
So, here is a update about our life.
We had a visit today from our social worker, she thought that we needed to have "Peanut" a least 8 months to be considered to be her adoptive parents, but after a phone call to dfs it's only 6 months.
She will have been here 6 months on Dec 16 2010. The next court date is Dec 8th, 2010 at 3:30 pm, please put this in your calendar to pray for us that day. Usually on this date, her mom is suppose to come in and say what she has been doing and ask for a extension on her rights, but because her mom has done nothing, they are asking for her rights to be terminated, could be a hard day.
So last week Jamie asked "what are we going to name her?" I said "I don't know?"
Jamie got up and went to the computer where he started looking at all these names, most of them start with a M, we still like Marley, but every time we say that name, that sweet baby that we did not get to adopt pops in our minds, kinda like it still is her name to this date, or at least to us.
It's funny to us, that we have had her for 5 months and not even had a conversation about what her name may be, it's just to hard to give her one, knowing it may be taken away from us.
I can rest assure you that I have taken it to the Lord, and I have prayed that all along he has known her name and would he please let us know what it is?
It's been fun, saying a name,looking at her and wondering if that is her name, God has given her.
by the way we are open to suggestions for a name, her middle name will be Claire, if God see's that she is to stay here with us.We like names that start with a M or a C, we also DO NOT like normal names, no maddison,or makenzie like names.It's so hard to pick names when you worked with kids for 18 years,I loved Samuel before we got Mason, but 2 weeks before we met Mason I had a Samuel, NO!!!! He was a wild man to say the least.
So what is in a name? We live with it for the rest of our lives, we write it down over and over for years and years to come. We don't usually have a choice in it, our parents give it to us, and only in hollywood have I heard of people changing theirs.
In conclusion, whatever her name is, God has already had it engraved in his heart and forever it will stay there, forever she will be his, forever he will be the same :)
Love you all,
S
We had a visit today from our social worker, she thought that we needed to have "Peanut" a least 8 months to be considered to be her adoptive parents, but after a phone call to dfs it's only 6 months.
She will have been here 6 months on Dec 16 2010. The next court date is Dec 8th, 2010 at 3:30 pm, please put this in your calendar to pray for us that day. Usually on this date, her mom is suppose to come in and say what she has been doing and ask for a extension on her rights, but because her mom has done nothing, they are asking for her rights to be terminated, could be a hard day.
So last week Jamie asked "what are we going to name her?" I said "I don't know?"
Jamie got up and went to the computer where he started looking at all these names, most of them start with a M, we still like Marley, but every time we say that name, that sweet baby that we did not get to adopt pops in our minds, kinda like it still is her name to this date, or at least to us.
It's funny to us, that we have had her for 5 months and not even had a conversation about what her name may be, it's just to hard to give her one, knowing it may be taken away from us.
I can rest assure you that I have taken it to the Lord, and I have prayed that all along he has known her name and would he please let us know what it is?
It's been fun, saying a name,looking at her and wondering if that is her name, God has given her.
by the way we are open to suggestions for a name, her middle name will be Claire, if God see's that she is to stay here with us.We like names that start with a M or a C, we also DO NOT like normal names, no maddison,or makenzie like names.It's so hard to pick names when you worked with kids for 18 years,I loved Samuel before we got Mason, but 2 weeks before we met Mason I had a Samuel, NO!!!! He was a wild man to say the least.
So what is in a name? We live with it for the rest of our lives, we write it down over and over for years and years to come. We don't usually have a choice in it, our parents give it to us, and only in hollywood have I heard of people changing theirs.
In conclusion, whatever her name is, God has already had it engraved in his heart and forever it will stay there, forever she will be his, forever he will be the same :)
Love you all,
S
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Well here we are, just living daily lives, a lot of it looks a lot like yours.
We get up and get Mason ready for school, feed the baby, get ourselves ready for work. We work all day come home and eat dinner and rush out the door to what ever activity we have that night.
It's just the American way, go go go, then go some more.
That's no excuse for me not writing and not updating you on what we have been going through.
We really have just been living life and trying not to think that maybe we would have to give Peanut back, for 2 months her mom did not even call. The dfs office could not get a hold of her either, she does not have a phone, so kinda hard to do.
Well she called last week and has the same story, she is waiting for a bed in a rehab place. I guess this means, she still has had no treatment and still singing the same song and dancing the same dance. Good for us I think.
The next court date is in December, the state was suppose to be having this date so that her mom could plead her case and hope to get Peanut back, but we were informed last week that they are going to ask for permanency, this would mean the start of her going up for adoption. Sounds easy and like we should get her and what's the hold up right?
Well nothing is easy with the state, she will go up for adoption and we will be considered to adopt her, but there will be a staffing,(another word for a meeting) to decide were she should go and what is best for her, the good news is that yes we do have a better chance of us getting her because of having her for 6 months by then.
After that there will be a court date, and if that goes well then we can make a court date to adopt her. I say all this to say we will be needing a lot of prayer, this is where we really need to lean on God's promises about our little girl, we keep telling people that if they try and take her away we will be moving far far away with her, like Peru, but now we have told everyone Peru, it will have to be somewhere else, we are so in love with her, that we could not give her away to anyone, we know God has a plan and most days, like our busy American way I do not think she will leave us, once in awhile I think about it and I worry, but I keep praying and telling myself she will get to be a McCain soon. I will try t0 update you better, but for now she is here with us, we love her so much and keep praying Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart"
Shelley
We get up and get Mason ready for school, feed the baby, get ourselves ready for work. We work all day come home and eat dinner and rush out the door to what ever activity we have that night.
It's just the American way, go go go, then go some more.
That's no excuse for me not writing and not updating you on what we have been going through.
We really have just been living life and trying not to think that maybe we would have to give Peanut back, for 2 months her mom did not even call. The dfs office could not get a hold of her either, she does not have a phone, so kinda hard to do.
Well she called last week and has the same story, she is waiting for a bed in a rehab place. I guess this means, she still has had no treatment and still singing the same song and dancing the same dance. Good for us I think.
The next court date is in December, the state was suppose to be having this date so that her mom could plead her case and hope to get Peanut back, but we were informed last week that they are going to ask for permanency, this would mean the start of her going up for adoption. Sounds easy and like we should get her and what's the hold up right?
Well nothing is easy with the state, she will go up for adoption and we will be considered to adopt her, but there will be a staffing,(another word for a meeting) to decide were she should go and what is best for her, the good news is that yes we do have a better chance of us getting her because of having her for 6 months by then.
After that there will be a court date, and if that goes well then we can make a court date to adopt her. I say all this to say we will be needing a lot of prayer, this is where we really need to lean on God's promises about our little girl, we keep telling people that if they try and take her away we will be moving far far away with her, like Peru, but now we have told everyone Peru, it will have to be somewhere else, we are so in love with her, that we could not give her away to anyone, we know God has a plan and most days, like our busy American way I do not think she will leave us, once in awhile I think about it and I worry, but I keep praying and telling myself she will get to be a McCain soon. I will try t0 update you better, but for now she is here with us, we love her so much and keep praying Psalms 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart"
Shelley
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
This has nothing to do with my adoption, just funny story.
I'm traveling this week for work and I'm in the great city of Columbia...MIZZOU!
I met with all my appts and had a few drop offs. I stopped by wal-mart to buy all of us a piece of mizzou, except for peanut, they did not have her size:(
So it was time to check into my hotel. My hotel is booked from TX. The only way they know how to book it is by the zip code I'm in.
That's the only info they have, so it's not their fault if it smells or is in a bad location, that's what mine was. I was on the 1st floor with broken blinds, it smelled horrible, and it looked a little shady on the location, it was not next to anything I saw during the whole day at being in Columbia.
I was talking to Jamie and told him I was not feeling comfortable. He told me to tell someone, which earlier in the day, the person who booked it said, if you don't like it, go somewhere else.
So I called her and said I was feeling unsafe there. She said for me to look around and find somewhere else and she would book it. So I was very thankful that I could call on a friend who is a student here. I asked her where I could stay,she told me of a place where her parents come when they visit, so an hour later I was handing my key back to the old hotel and checking into my new one, which is great, it has wi fi so I can work. It has a gym so I can workout, it does not smell and I feel safe...deep breath.
I'm so thankful right now, cause I was worried about staying in that other place for 3 days. Now I'm back to feeling excited about being here.
I have had a great day.
Pray for me to have a great day tomorrow! I need to touch some churches, so they bring lost girls to this event, so there is a chance they will leave found!!
Love ya'll
I'm traveling this week for work and I'm in the great city of Columbia...MIZZOU!
I met with all my appts and had a few drop offs. I stopped by wal-mart to buy all of us a piece of mizzou, except for peanut, they did not have her size:(
So it was time to check into my hotel. My hotel is booked from TX. The only way they know how to book it is by the zip code I'm in.
That's the only info they have, so it's not their fault if it smells or is in a bad location, that's what mine was. I was on the 1st floor with broken blinds, it smelled horrible, and it looked a little shady on the location, it was not next to anything I saw during the whole day at being in Columbia.
I was talking to Jamie and told him I was not feeling comfortable. He told me to tell someone, which earlier in the day, the person who booked it said, if you don't like it, go somewhere else.
So I called her and said I was feeling unsafe there. She said for me to look around and find somewhere else and she would book it. So I was very thankful that I could call on a friend who is a student here. I asked her where I could stay,she told me of a place where her parents come when they visit, so an hour later I was handing my key back to the old hotel and checking into my new one, which is great, it has wi fi so I can work. It has a gym so I can workout, it does not smell and I feel safe...deep breath.
I'm so thankful right now, cause I was worried about staying in that other place for 3 days. Now I'm back to feeling excited about being here.
I have had a great day.
Pray for me to have a great day tomorrow! I need to touch some churches, so they bring lost girls to this event, so there is a chance they will leave found!!
Love ya'll
Sunday, September 26, 2010
I am writing this today, for tomorrow may be just too rough to do so. Come with me if you will on a Jouney to the last moments with Journie Unique Price. On this day last year Journie was fighting for each breath she took, she was so sweet with those chubby cheeks and her pink,pink toe nails. I remember having her on the first day and before her machine were all in place in my living room I was painting those sweet little toes, PINK:)
She never cried and as said as it is, really because she did not have strong enough lungs to do so,but she would just give me a look and I knew that she had enough suctioning or when she was uncomfortable I could feel her squirm. My favorite time with Journie is when I would bath her, I did this ever night weather she needed it or not, because it was what I loved the most to do with her, she was free from tubes and wires for a short time and I know she enjoyed that feeling too. Most of the time she was struggling to breath and we all did our best to always make sure she was as comfortable as we could make her, but she always would calm her breathing during her bath,it was so comforting to her and to me, she knew it was time and her eyes would get big and she would know, because we would start the move of all her equipment into the kitchen. First we would move the suction machine to the counter, then make sure all her supplies were in the right place, last we would move her and her oxygen to the kitchen, and her and I knew it was spa time:)
I got to take all her tubes off and all those sticky pads off her that sometimes left her skin red. I got to free her from these daily burdens for such a short time a day and it made me feel like I was taking the best care of her I could. When she was done with her bath I would lotion her and just snuggle her in her warm towel, yes warm, I would put a towel in the dryer before she had a bath and have Jamie or whoever was around go get it from the laundry room seconds before she got out so it would be warm for her, I told you it was spa time.
I did not know that the last bath I would give her was one year ago from today, although I felt the time was near, only God knew she was being prepared for him to bring her home. That last night with her was a sleepless one, the nurse came to wake me to tell me she was not doing well. I got up and just held her all night and into the morning hours. I called my mom once the sun was up and told her soon it was time. My mom came and cooked us breakfast and we just took turns holding her while the nurse gave her meds to make her comfortable. The weather outside was beautiful, and as much work as it was to get her out of the house, when we would take her to Masons' football games she always perked up, she loved being outside and seeing other people.
My mom suggested we move her outside to the warm sun, she we packed her up and moved outside. She immediately was comforted by the warmth. It was about 11 when I released the nurse to go home. Minutes after he left my mom was holding her and we saw a blue and black butterfly land on my deck, it was so peaceful and quite. My mom asked if I wanted her back and I said yes,mom went inside to get a drink and returned, as she was inside I told Journie that I was ok and that if she was just too tired to take another breath, I was ok to let Jesus have her. I then prayed to God, telling him that if it was her time to go that I was going to be ok and thanked him for letting me be in her life, it was not a minute later that her chest to mine, she left my arms to the arms of Jesus.
Mom and I shed some tears and all in a breath she was gone.
That day Jesus freed her from her tubes and machines forever. I'm thankful that I was a part of Journie's life,I'm thankful God chose me to have her the day she went to heaven. I'm not pretending that it's not hard, I have already shed some tears sharing this with you and tomorrow as I visit her grave I know I will shed some more. I'm sharing this with you because life is hard handle it with prayer.
Below is the blog I wrote after Journie passed away.
Love you all.
It has been to long since our last post, and because life has been happening, and not just ordinary things, but hard life.
We have been repite caring for a sweet baby girl, Journie. She was born at 25 weeks and life has just been hard on her, all of her energy goes just to taking her every single breath. She has had a journey herself, we have cared for her before but when she came into our care the second time, she was fighting the battle to just stay alive, on September 27th at 11:15am she lost her battle here on earth, Jesus gently took her from my arms and into his, it was the sweetest moment to know that he waited til we were outside on the deck her chest to mine where she took her last breath.
My earthly body does miss her and her sweet face and her hot pink toe nails, but God has been so gentle to hold me so close and give me peace, so when those tears fall they are falling because we serve such gentle savior. Journie Mays-Price 2/8/2009-9/27/2009
She never cried and as said as it is, really because she did not have strong enough lungs to do so,but she would just give me a look and I knew that she had enough suctioning or when she was uncomfortable I could feel her squirm. My favorite time with Journie is when I would bath her, I did this ever night weather she needed it or not, because it was what I loved the most to do with her, she was free from tubes and wires for a short time and I know she enjoyed that feeling too. Most of the time she was struggling to breath and we all did our best to always make sure she was as comfortable as we could make her, but she always would calm her breathing during her bath,it was so comforting to her and to me, she knew it was time and her eyes would get big and she would know, because we would start the move of all her equipment into the kitchen. First we would move the suction machine to the counter, then make sure all her supplies were in the right place, last we would move her and her oxygen to the kitchen, and her and I knew it was spa time:)
I got to take all her tubes off and all those sticky pads off her that sometimes left her skin red. I got to free her from these daily burdens for such a short time a day and it made me feel like I was taking the best care of her I could. When she was done with her bath I would lotion her and just snuggle her in her warm towel, yes warm, I would put a towel in the dryer before she had a bath and have Jamie or whoever was around go get it from the laundry room seconds before she got out so it would be warm for her, I told you it was spa time.
I did not know that the last bath I would give her was one year ago from today, although I felt the time was near, only God knew she was being prepared for him to bring her home. That last night with her was a sleepless one, the nurse came to wake me to tell me she was not doing well. I got up and just held her all night and into the morning hours. I called my mom once the sun was up and told her soon it was time. My mom came and cooked us breakfast and we just took turns holding her while the nurse gave her meds to make her comfortable. The weather outside was beautiful, and as much work as it was to get her out of the house, when we would take her to Masons' football games she always perked up, she loved being outside and seeing other people.
My mom suggested we move her outside to the warm sun, she we packed her up and moved outside. She immediately was comforted by the warmth. It was about 11 when I released the nurse to go home. Minutes after he left my mom was holding her and we saw a blue and black butterfly land on my deck, it was so peaceful and quite. My mom asked if I wanted her back and I said yes,mom went inside to get a drink and returned, as she was inside I told Journie that I was ok and that if she was just too tired to take another breath, I was ok to let Jesus have her. I then prayed to God, telling him that if it was her time to go that I was going to be ok and thanked him for letting me be in her life, it was not a minute later that her chest to mine, she left my arms to the arms of Jesus.
Mom and I shed some tears and all in a breath she was gone.
That day Jesus freed her from her tubes and machines forever. I'm thankful that I was a part of Journie's life,I'm thankful God chose me to have her the day she went to heaven. I'm not pretending that it's not hard, I have already shed some tears sharing this with you and tomorrow as I visit her grave I know I will shed some more. I'm sharing this with you because life is hard handle it with prayer.
Below is the blog I wrote after Journie passed away.
Love you all.
It has been to long since our last post, and because life has been happening, and not just ordinary things, but hard life.
We have been repite caring for a sweet baby girl, Journie. She was born at 25 weeks and life has just been hard on her, all of her energy goes just to taking her every single breath. She has had a journey herself, we have cared for her before but when she came into our care the second time, she was fighting the battle to just stay alive, on September 27th at 11:15am she lost her battle here on earth, Jesus gently took her from my arms and into his, it was the sweetest moment to know that he waited til we were outside on the deck her chest to mine where she took her last breath.
My earthly body does miss her and her sweet face and her hot pink toe nails, but God has been so gentle to hold me so close and give me peace, so when those tears fall they are falling because we serve such gentle savior. Journie Mays-Price 2/8/2009-9/27/2009
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Been along time since I have wrote in here, so this post is not from me, it's actually something my mother in law gave me,it was in a little daily book she reads.
Marcie squealed as she hung up the phone "Clint, that was the social worker.They are placing a foster baby with us tonight!" Clint grinned and said " Well we better get some baby things ready"
Is it a boy or a girl, how old?"
"A baby boy just a few weeks old, I have the crib set up, so lets get out some bottles and some of Will's old clothes"
" First lets tell Jamie and Will we will be getting a foster baby tonight"
A few hours later the family returned home with a infant boy named, Jacob. His biological parents had a drug problem and he needed a safe home where he could stay for awhile.
Marcie knew they had a amazing opportunity to shower Jesus' love on this little one for however long this little one would stay.
"Mom,when will we know if Jacob can stay with our family?" Will asked
"It may be years before we could adopt Jacob,Marcie explained " but we are called to love him and care for him right now and no matter what the future holds,God can use this time in this little boy's life to draw him close. We will just love on him one day at a time and pray that the spirit will work in and through us to minister his needs,physical and spiritual."
Foster care is a special calling for those who are willing to step into the life of a child and make a difference,whether for short or long term. Foster families and adoptive families can be a reflection of God's love, filled with grace. As Christians, we don't do anything to deserve God's love,but He adopts us as his own and gives us all the rights and privileges of being His child because of Jesus death on our behalf. If you feel the tug to provide for a child in need of a home you can contact you local DFS office
People ask me all the time when we have foster babies, "is this baby yours?" I always respond with "well today they are"
God has asked us to love on them while we have them and let them go when he says Go,it's not easy and with the anniversary of Journie's death around the corner, I can sit in his presence and be reminded that he has asked Jamie and I do this, and in the end he will sing praises over us for being obedient.
It's not the storms that he is watching, it's how you will dance in the rain when it does.
Have a blessed night, I'm going to go love on Peanut :)
Shelley
Marcie squealed as she hung up the phone "Clint, that was the social worker.They are placing a foster baby with us tonight!" Clint grinned and said " Well we better get some baby things ready"
Is it a boy or a girl, how old?"
"A baby boy just a few weeks old, I have the crib set up, so lets get out some bottles and some of Will's old clothes"
" First lets tell Jamie and Will we will be getting a foster baby tonight"
A few hours later the family returned home with a infant boy named, Jacob. His biological parents had a drug problem and he needed a safe home where he could stay for awhile.
Marcie knew they had a amazing opportunity to shower Jesus' love on this little one for however long this little one would stay.
"Mom,when will we know if Jacob can stay with our family?" Will asked
"It may be years before we could adopt Jacob,Marcie explained " but we are called to love him and care for him right now and no matter what the future holds,God can use this time in this little boy's life to draw him close. We will just love on him one day at a time and pray that the spirit will work in and through us to minister his needs,physical and spiritual."
Foster care is a special calling for those who are willing to step into the life of a child and make a difference,whether for short or long term. Foster families and adoptive families can be a reflection of God's love, filled with grace. As Christians, we don't do anything to deserve God's love,but He adopts us as his own and gives us all the rights and privileges of being His child because of Jesus death on our behalf. If you feel the tug to provide for a child in need of a home you can contact you local DFS office
People ask me all the time when we have foster babies, "is this baby yours?" I always respond with "well today they are"
God has asked us to love on them while we have them and let them go when he says Go,it's not easy and with the anniversary of Journie's death around the corner, I can sit in his presence and be reminded that he has asked Jamie and I do this, and in the end he will sing praises over us for being obedient.
It's not the storms that he is watching, it's how you will dance in the rain when it does.
Have a blessed night, I'm going to go love on Peanut :)
Shelley
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