So I am trying to post something once a week now, shocking, eh?!
This past weekend was quite busy at our church, Oakwood Church, with the ministry, Mission: Hope, as we presented a plea for the orphans during National Orphan Sunday. I truly hope some seeds were planted for God's will and work to be done for these orphans.
Tomorrow, Alex and Zoey go for their annual vet trip! Exciting, I know, for them, not so much! LOL Otherwise we both have our regular work schedules to attend to.
This Friday will be busy in regards to our foster child, Little One. We will be meeting the Guardian ad litem, the child's lawyer, for the first time that morning. That afternoon we will have our monthly visit from our caseworker, the FAS, Foster and Adoption Specialist; as well as Little One's case worker, OCM, Ongoing Case Manager. I'm still hoping we can get the GAL to come at the same time as the FAS and OCM so that everyone is on the same page in regards to the TPR, Termination of Parental Rights.
I just want to share one quick thing that I will always remember from one of my bible study groups:
Seek Jesus first and all other things will follow. Put other things first, then Jesus will get lost in the mix. In other words, Jesus is your vision correction device. Where is your focus?
Have a blessed week y'all!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Fall 2010 Update
As some of you know, we have decided to put our private adoption search on hold. That is okay, and it took me a while to get to that this past week. We have yearned to be parents for so long, and we are, even if it is just as foster parents, we are raising a wonderful little girl. Due to the confidentiality of this foster case, I will say that it has played a huge part in our suspending the private adoption search at this time. We could potentially be adopting this little girl next year sometime. We are at the very beginnings of this process, and as some of you know, foster care TPR (Termination of Parental Rights) is its own roller coaster of emotions. However, we surrender it all to God and wait for our 6 months pre-adoptive period to end with Little One in February, just 4 days before my 35th birthday. We do plan to adopt again, we just need to know that it is God's timing.
I have cut back down to one part-time job now and am very grateful that we can do so. I continue to serve on the board of two local ministries, the Hartland Area Food Pantry and Mission: Hope, an orphan care mininstry at Oakwood Church. Jack continues to work very hard at his business and they now have 4 employees on staff! We are struggling however with one of our parrots, Zoey and his territorial behavior. With Little One running around the house now, Zoey gets more aggressive in making sure his territory is for him only. No one has been harmed, we will do our best to never let that happen! Will you pray for us as we struggle with this situation? We may need to find another home for him.
Here is an updated picture of Jack and I taken back in September by Nick Welsh.
A sneak peek of us with Little One.
Write to us if you want to know more about adoption or foster care! We hope you are happy, safe, healthy and know that you are a blessing to us! Have a wonderful season of giving thanks to those special in your life! God bless!
I have cut back down to one part-time job now and am very grateful that we can do so. I continue to serve on the board of two local ministries, the Hartland Area Food Pantry and Mission: Hope, an orphan care mininstry at Oakwood Church. Jack continues to work very hard at his business and they now have 4 employees on staff! We are struggling however with one of our parrots, Zoey and his territorial behavior. With Little One running around the house now, Zoey gets more aggressive in making sure his territory is for him only. No one has been harmed, we will do our best to never let that happen! Will you pray for us as we struggle with this situation? We may need to find another home for him.
Here is an updated picture of Jack and I taken back in September by Nick Welsh.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
We did it!!!
As of Friday, August 13 at 5 PM, we are officially licensed as foster-to-adopt parents through CSSW (Children's Service Society of Wisconsin), the licensing agency for Milwaukee County. What a journey that was! I cannot believe these past four months have flown by! So this coming Friday, we will be getting our placement of the now 18-month-old little one. So stinkin' excited for our first foster child.
Who knew we would be back to the foster care route three years after we first looked at it? Well God of course! He is such an awesome dad, to know the details of your life and will let you wander off and let you come back home to Him with arms wide open, what unconditional love.
Let's just say we cannot wait for Friday!!! :) Thank you everyone for your continued prayers. We are excited to become parents, however short or long, and we praise Him for answering our prayers.
Who knew we would be back to the foster care route three years after we first looked at it? Well God of course! He is such an awesome dad, to know the details of your life and will let you wander off and let you come back home to Him with arms wide open, what unconditional love.
Let's just say we cannot wait for Friday!!! :) Thank you everyone for your continued prayers. We are excited to become parents, however short or long, and we praise Him for answering our prayers.
Monday, June 28, 2010
June 2010 Update
Well...lots to get done! We have our final home visit from the foster care licensing agency TOMORROW! And then next Saturday the 10th, we have our all day class and one remaining class on the 13th before we have completed all requirements to get a foster license!!! Other good news is that they said we should be able to get our license issued on August 9th, that is a full two weeks ahead of their original promise date of being dually licensed. I think even better news would be that we come back from my family reunion in July, down in the Southeast and they say, "you are licensed, let's move Little One to your home for long-term foster care!" God is in the miracle-making business!
I find that while I am working my two part-time jobs and given the chance to have Little One on overnights to keep bonding, this is a taste of what life will be like. I would just have to figure out what my new schedule will be when she comes as I know she will have to go to daycare 2 days a week. I want her to be around other kids and have the same structure as far as her routine that her current foster family and I try and keep for her to help with the transition.
I wonder what goes through foster children's minds as they go from home to home, if that is their case. Getting lost in the shuffle as the government decides where you should go next, not feeling the unconditional love that everyone should experience as God the Father provides it freely, 24/7.
I believe that even if Little One is reunited with her biological parent, I can say this experienced has changed my life because I know that I am serving a commandment from the Father and that is "Love thy neighbor as yourself." Do you feel the Holy Spirit inside of you? That is the gift of unconditional love given to us from the Father to remind us daily of all that "of these three things, FAITH, HOPE and LOVE, the greatest of these is LOVE."
God bless you!
Kimberly
I find that while I am working my two part-time jobs and given the chance to have Little One on overnights to keep bonding, this is a taste of what life will be like. I would just have to figure out what my new schedule will be when she comes as I know she will have to go to daycare 2 days a week. I want her to be around other kids and have the same structure as far as her routine that her current foster family and I try and keep for her to help with the transition.
I wonder what goes through foster children's minds as they go from home to home, if that is their case. Getting lost in the shuffle as the government decides where you should go next, not feeling the unconditional love that everyone should experience as God the Father provides it freely, 24/7.
I believe that even if Little One is reunited with her biological parent, I can say this experienced has changed my life because I know that I am serving a commandment from the Father and that is "Love thy neighbor as yourself." Do you feel the Holy Spirit inside of you? That is the gift of unconditional love given to us from the Father to remind us daily of all that "of these three things, FAITH, HOPE and LOVE, the greatest of these is LOVE."
God bless you!
Kimberly
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Update - May 2010
Oops.
Been a little busy here as of late and I'll tell you why. Jack and I are on the path of becoming parents!
We are in the process of getting dual licensing for a 14-month-old bi-racial girl from Milwaukee. Dual licensed in the fact that she is a foster child, so we need a license to be foster parents, and then if the plan changes over the course of this next year and she becomes available for adoption, we would like to adopt her. However, she would need to be in our home for 6 months straight and her parents' rights would have been terminated for that to happen. I will not go into the details of her life, that is her story to tell. I will tell you that we were made aware of this situation as her current foster family attends Oakwood Church and thought of us for her long-term placement! This is a legal-risk placement in the fact that she could be reunited with her family. We just trust in God the Father about this child and the details, and we show her love and provide a stable home for her when she comes here. So please pray for the licensing process and that nothing hinders us from getting this little girl that God put indirectly in to our path.
If you want to know more about foster care and adopting from foster care, contact me! :)
I do hope we get a call from Lifetime in California this year about a child through them as we cannot have a license issued by one agency for one adoption and another license by another agency for the other. Complicated, I know. We got the book from DCFHS last week and can read every code made for foster care...boring. We have been told that our contract has been extended another 6 months at Lifetime because after 2 years of waiting with them, they review your file and hope to make a match in that time frame, but know that it's not a guarantee.
SO! We are learning so much about different types of adoption just this year alone. Crazy.
Personally, I just got hired for another part-time job, one mile from my house. So I would be working roughly 15 hours a week between the two over the summer.
Anyways...I'd like to hear from y'all. What have you done this year that you haven't done ever?
Been a little busy here as of late and I'll tell you why. Jack and I are on the path of becoming parents!
We are in the process of getting dual licensing for a 14-month-old bi-racial girl from Milwaukee. Dual licensed in the fact that she is a foster child, so we need a license to be foster parents, and then if the plan changes over the course of this next year and she becomes available for adoption, we would like to adopt her. However, she would need to be in our home for 6 months straight and her parents' rights would have been terminated for that to happen. I will not go into the details of her life, that is her story to tell. I will tell you that we were made aware of this situation as her current foster family attends Oakwood Church and thought of us for her long-term placement! This is a legal-risk placement in the fact that she could be reunited with her family. We just trust in God the Father about this child and the details, and we show her love and provide a stable home for her when she comes here. So please pray for the licensing process and that nothing hinders us from getting this little girl that God put indirectly in to our path.
If you want to know more about foster care and adopting from foster care, contact me! :)
I do hope we get a call from Lifetime in California this year about a child through them as we cannot have a license issued by one agency for one adoption and another license by another agency for the other. Complicated, I know. We got the book from DCFHS last week and can read every code made for foster care...boring. We have been told that our contract has been extended another 6 months at Lifetime because after 2 years of waiting with them, they review your file and hope to make a match in that time frame, but know that it's not a guarantee.
SO! We are learning so much about different types of adoption just this year alone. Crazy.
Personally, I just got hired for another part-time job, one mile from my house. So I would be working roughly 15 hours a week between the two over the summer.
Anyways...I'd like to hear from y'all. What have you done this year that you haven't done ever?
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Okay..a bi-monthly update..?! :)
So...not much happening in our household these last two months. I celebrated my birthday back in February, it was a wonderful time out. We went to one of my favorite places, Applebee's, and I got sung by the staff with an ice cream sundae to boot! I do have my new hearing aids now and even managed to wash them once in the washing machine...yahoo!! So, now I can continue to use the state's assistance with finding a full-time job, yet I still hold on to the hopes of becoming a mommy through adoption soon! :) As for Jack, well, Jack's Jack! Not much new in his world either, except for a 5 day work trip to L.A. for technical training.
God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
Thank you everyone for your prayers, encouragement as we continue on this journey here on earth till we meet (we pray for you!) again in Heaven for all of eternity!
JAKZ
God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
Thank you everyone for your prayers, encouragement as we continue on this journey here on earth till we meet (we pray for you!) again in Heaven for all of eternity!
JAKZ
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Wow...2010 is here!
Okay, okay. Stop razzing me about the lack of posts. I can't believe how I can spend time on facebook and twitter and not take that same amount of time and post on this blog. So hold me to the promise of posting once a month on here, okay? I even have it as a calendar appointment in my e-mail program to get over here.
Updates:
Kimberly:
I currently have a part-time job with a local drugstore doing greeting card ordering/organizing. It is fun! Gets me out of the house for a few hours a week, my paycheck is my spending allowance, and I could get insurance if I need to. I am still on the board with the local food pantry, volunteering often and am now helping them to convert from a paper and pen environment to digital via laptop!!! I am also on the leadership team of Mission: Hope as Assistant Director and we are celebrating our first year of serving our God on the 24th of January! And when I am not at either of those ministries, shopping, or at work, I may be found helping out a new ministry called Aroma Cafe TV found on my1channel. Check it out!
I am also in the process of getting new hearing aids with the assistance of the state. So excited to be able to "hear normal" again after being without them for over 6 months now. Jack is probably more excited, hehe.
Jack:
He is Vice President/Owner of Air Technology Services. That alone is a great blessing during these economic times. They currently have 3 employees on staff and may hire another one in 2010. Jack has become more active in church by running the computer during Sunday morning service once a month. You know one should put those great computer skills to use for the greater good! Love you babe! ;) Jack has flown quite a bit this past year in his plane when we were not busy using commercial airlines to get to new places.
Adoption plans are still active. We had our home study updated as we have officially completed two years waiting. God has it all planned for the perfect child HE wants us to be blessed with. Each child is a gift from God, ours temporarily, His eternally.
We only have one "vacation" planned this year and that will be to Georgia/Blue Ridge Mountains for a family reunion with Kimberly's family for a week in the summer. We recently celebrated 10 years in October and had taken our trip earlier in the year as deals were great for Hawaii then. We had also gone to San Diego as a vacation/work trip for Jack. Just wanted to put our feet in the sand on the beach at the ocean and we did that a couple of times. Oh how I miss Hawaii!
I often sit and wonder at the beginning of a new year:
How can I be a better person? What is God doing to and through me for my good and His glory? I have heard of a wonderful song this past year or so that has become a fixture on my playlist:
Mighty to Save by Hillsong
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus (x2)
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave
Do you believe that Jesus came to Earth to save YOU?! I do, and I hope you find the joy in your life that only He can bring!
Happy New Year everyone, God bless!
Updates:
Kimberly:
I currently have a part-time job with a local drugstore doing greeting card ordering/organizing. It is fun! Gets me out of the house for a few hours a week, my paycheck is my spending allowance, and I could get insurance if I need to. I am still on the board with the local food pantry, volunteering often and am now helping them to convert from a paper and pen environment to digital via laptop!!! I am also on the leadership team of Mission: Hope as Assistant Director and we are celebrating our first year of serving our God on the 24th of January! And when I am not at either of those ministries, shopping, or at work, I may be found helping out a new ministry called Aroma Cafe TV found on my1channel. Check it out!
I am also in the process of getting new hearing aids with the assistance of the state. So excited to be able to "hear normal" again after being without them for over 6 months now. Jack is probably more excited, hehe.
Jack:
He is Vice President/Owner of Air Technology Services. That alone is a great blessing during these economic times. They currently have 3 employees on staff and may hire another one in 2010. Jack has become more active in church by running the computer during Sunday morning service once a month. You know one should put those great computer skills to use for the greater good! Love you babe! ;) Jack has flown quite a bit this past year in his plane when we were not busy using commercial airlines to get to new places.
Adoption plans are still active. We had our home study updated as we have officially completed two years waiting. God has it all planned for the perfect child HE wants us to be blessed with. Each child is a gift from God, ours temporarily, His eternally.
We only have one "vacation" planned this year and that will be to Georgia/Blue Ridge Mountains for a family reunion with Kimberly's family for a week in the summer. We recently celebrated 10 years in October and had taken our trip earlier in the year as deals were great for Hawaii then. We had also gone to San Diego as a vacation/work trip for Jack. Just wanted to put our feet in the sand on the beach at the ocean and we did that a couple of times. Oh how I miss Hawaii!
I often sit and wonder at the beginning of a new year:
How can I be a better person? What is God doing to and through me for my good and His glory? I have heard of a wonderful song this past year or so that has become a fixture on my playlist:
Mighty to Save by Hillsong
Everyone needs compassion,
Love that's never failing;
Let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness,
The kindness of a Saviour;
The Hope of nations.
Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
So take me as You find me,
All my fears and failures,
Fill my life again.
I give my life to follow
Everything I believe in,
Now I surrender.
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
Shine your light and let the whole world see,
We're singing for the glory of the risen King...Jesus (x2)
My Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My God is Mighty to save,
He is Mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation,
He rose and conquered the grave,
Jesus conquered the grave.
My Saviour, you can move the mountains,
You are mighty to save,
You are mighty to save.
Forever, Author of Salvation,
You rose and conquered the grave,
Yes you conquered the grave
Do you believe that Jesus came to Earth to save YOU?! I do, and I hope you find the joy in your life that only He can bring!
Happy New Year everyone, God bless!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)