ROUTINE

Well, Christmas is past us--by one day. But, we are finally into a good routine. It seems as if with any newborn, that they were always with us---that you can't imagine what life was like without them! It's only been 2 weeks time and yet it feels like 2 1/2 years--the age of Jackson. It is definitely busier and I am a little more worn out but it's the good kind of spending all you have for that day. It wouldn't feel right any other way! We're headed out on a family outing and it will be the first time we use our stroller made for 3. Maybe we'll take 2 double strollers and 5 out of the 7 can have a seat. :)

We are just looking ahead to the next step--Jan 5th. Please continue to pray for all these details and the timing. Oh, and our house is now on the market. We are listed in the MLS. Check it out! http://bit.ly/Bellrose and http://360ventures.zenfolio.com/p934789627

I'll try to post some pictures soon. Just know it's amazing that I am even blogging this! Time is money!! It's very precious and not much to spare. We hope everyone had a great day with family and we pray for all you and love the pictures you sent! Now, I guess it's Happy New Year! 2010! What are you calling it? two thousand ten or twenty ten??

with love,

fischers 9

Candlelight Ceremony

Today was our Candlelight Ceremony for our new boys! We lit candles and said some special things about the boys coming into our home. I read a poem and Shiloh read some scripture and prayed. The boys' social worker included her own words. It was great!

Today is the official day that we are now the boys Adoptive Parents. They have passed through so many hands and with God's will they will finally stop here. So many people have been involved and so many wonderful workers. It's so amazing to read their files and then see where their foster mom and dad took care of them. The youngest boy was in the hospital for about 7 months. We know God has cared for them through these amazing people.

The past 2 weeks was crazy!! However, it was great for the boys' sake in transition into our home. Oh and on their first weekend with us they and Shiloh caught a little bug! What a great way we said, to be "baptized" into 7 kids! With Shiloh here, it was manageable. I am soooo glad he was not traveling. Everyone is better now, so we'll see who else gets it. :)

So we would like to tell you their new names. First, they will have a new last name of course! Second, we have chosen Jackson and Everett. Everett is Shiloh's Grandfather's name and Jackson is the boy name we've had picked out for this very day--the day God blessed us with a boy. We just ended up with two!!

We ask for your prayers for the hearing on January 5th. This will determine how soon they can be adopted. I know God is always teaching me patience; however, in this situation, it usually doesn't move as quickly as it is! This would be so perfect to move to MA this Spring with our adopted sons. Maybe this is one time I don't have to wait? If so, there is always more to learn and grow in.

I forgot to add my verse the first time....

John 14.13-14 "Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it."

Thanks for following our journey and more so for your prayers.

With love,

Shiloh, Jenny, Ellie Jo, Caroline, Georgia, Aubrey, Sadie, Jackson and Everett

TRANSITION

I apologize for not getting any posts out earlier.....but it has been busy!

We started on Monday with going over to their foster home. I got to see Shiloh meet them for the first time! The older little boy was ADORABLE! When he saw us, he just reached out his arms and yelled, "Hello!" He has such a love for life! Shiloh was so into playing with the toys and the boys that at one point boy #1 was trying to get him to pay attention to him and not the toy! But, Shiloh really was great with them, wrestling and just laying on the floor getting to know them. It was great! We did not want to leave...... So! We came back the next day for more playtime. We took them to McDonald's and had lunch. That was fun, too, actually having them out with us all by ourselves. The baby wanted to be near us the whole time and you could tell he felt safe in our arms--which is good! We are going to work very hard on bonding--a word you hear lots of in any adoption.

Today was Physical Therapy and Horse Therapy day. The boys have an hour of this each week. We met their therapist and got to see what sort of things she will do with them. Then, I road up with foster mom to the East Mountains to take them to their horse therapy. This is where they build up the muscles in their core to get more balance and strength in their hips and legs. The boys are improving and enjoying the therapy at the same time! It was great day! Shiloh will get to go next week with them.

All of this is moving quickly for state adoption standards. We are just following along and letting God led us to the next step. We'll go as far as He allows with hopefully having the boys in our home forever.

Thank you for your prayers! Please keep praying about the next step which is a hearing on Jan. 5th regarding their future.

And for just one amazing note, I have to say that by some miracle....we did a lot of nesting this weekend. We put the boys' room together, we bought a Christmas tree, spent a couple of days figuring out how the tree lights were going to work, put up outside lights, decorated the tree, and the inside of the house, rearranged our garage, packed up about 10 more boxes of stuff for storage and whew! we were done. This is more than we can normally do with 5 kids! So, it was a productive weekend!

It was especially fun for me getting to decorate a boy's room, since I have had the bedding packaged up for 4 years now, knowing that one day we would have a boy that would use it!!!

We'll try to post more this week.....

Jenny

PS I added these ads onto the page to get a little more cash....we'll see what it actually brings in. Please let me know if you see something that shouldn't belong! Thanks!

On Thanksgiving....

Thanksgiving Day is a good day to post on our adoption.

We have a busy weekend ahead of us. On top of the normal traditions one usually does...Christmas tree, ornaments, decorations and lights....we are setting up the boys rooms! We have 2 cribs to put together, curtains to hang and clothes to put into the dresser. Oh, and we're also getting our house ready to sell!! We are soooo excited! Did I say that with enough emphasis? :)

I had purchased an airplane themed pottery barn nursery bedroom set about 4 years ago--2 kids ago. I was thinking surely one of these pregnancies will be a boy, right? Well, they weren't. This is just fine; but in my heart, I knew we were going to have a boy. I still know this. I don't know for sure how, but it's looking very close to becoming reality. Either way, I was not giving that bedding up. So, one crib will be airplanes and one will be boats. None of this really matters, except that it means we will be taking into our home two precious little kids that need a forever home and a family who loves them unconditionally.

Each step of the way is a hurdle to jump over....so far, the lawyer approved the transition calendar. This means we will start bringing them over to our home over the next 2 weeks. And, on December 14th we will have a small ceremony in our home celebrating the finding of a forever home for the boys! Three weeks after this is the first hearing for termination of parental rights. This will be January 5th. After this hearing we will know more about the timeline for an official adoption. The whole process can take up to two years but for us things are moving along as fast as they can at this point. We are thankful to God for this and we just take one hurdle as they come!

Shiloh read some great verses today:

Psalm 146.9 "...the Lord sustains the fatherless..."

Psalm 116.5 & 6 "The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, He saved me."

Our one focus is to have our hearts set on God. Our loyalties are to Him only. Our hearts are listening to Him and He is calling us to this. There is no way we can ignore it! We are the simplehearted right now; and prayerfully, we will always be defined by this.

Hopefully, we are all thinking on the blessings in our lives. Getting these boys is one of those blessings. It's so foreign to think that our family adopting children that we don't have to adopt is blessing us. We cannot explain that, but even in the midst of the hardest days that are yet to come, I am confident in this calling and we will not falter on this choice. We are being blessed and sanctified through all of this! At this point, why does this seem so easy? It's not! My heart hurts almost daily thinking about these 2 boys who need a home. All we want is for God to be a father to them. We know He will not forsake them. If we can be that vessel to show them a father's love, we will. We are ready and willing.

Thank you for praying for us and for these sweet boys.

Jenny for all of the Fischer family

I just met the boys for the VERY first time ever!! They are so adorable! And, I wanted to scoop them up and take them home. I was very calm, if I don't say so myself! They are very interactive and alert and fun! I have pictures but do not think I am allowed to post them. You'll have to ask for those through email.

Please keep praying. There are sooo many legal hurdles to cross but the strange thing is I am letting God take care of that with no real worry at all! It's usually hard to do that, but this is one of those things that is sooo big. Maybe it is easier to let God just take those big things? The daily is hard to let go of though! I need to preach to myself here!

Please pray for the judge and the lawyer involved that they will be open to the boys staying in our home and letting them move to MA with us in May. We THINK this will happen but it's not in writing, of course.

Well, just know it will be HARD to wait until November 30th!! This is when we start what is a 2 week transition of the boys into our home. I guess I will just spend time decorating a boys' room for the first time EVER!! :)

With love! Jenny for the Fischer family

Well! We have the best possible scenario for getting the boys! Thank you all for praying!! It is quite an ordeal to get them into our home. Because of all their special needs, it is going to take longer than we thought. Your prayers were greatly needed even though we will not be getting them by Thanksgiving. The plan is to have these little boys in our home by December 14th! So, now, it's before Christmas and we will are very thankful for that. I guess it is not the policy usually to do transitions over the holidays. This is an exception they are making. Thank you for praying! We look forward to sending out pictures sometime after Dec. 14th.

Jenny for all

Anyone who reads this..... our new prayer request is for the boys to be in our home by Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite time of the year and it would only make each Thanksgiving even more remarkable from here on out! However, I know God has reasons for even allowing "bad" things to happen. The level of "bad" things here, would be not getting the boys until the first of the year! We would be extremely frustrated about that!!

So, there are two requests that I would appreciate you prayer warriors praying for: First, that the boys would be able to get into our home within the alloted 2 week time period (which we have already waited 2 weeks) and Second, that Shiloh and I would accept God's timing on this, even if it means putting up with the State run organization which doesn't really care about when they come into our home......Ugh!!

Our meeting is Tuesday at 9.20 am. I will do my best to post another blog afterwards!

Anticipating, Hoping and Praying for God's best!

Jennifer and Shiloh

PS God gave Shiloh a great verse this morning! Psalm 68.5-6 "God is A Father to the Fatherless and a judge for the widows, God is in His holy Habitation. God makes a home for the lonely..."

Waiting.....

It's so funny how this adoption mirrors a regular pregnancy. I am waiting and waiting and wondering and wondering....about everything!! Are they okay? Are they sleeping well? Did they make progress? It's similar to being in the womb.....are they growing? Should I call my doctor? Why do I have to wait so long to see them???

We have not heard when we will meet the boys. We are looking forward to it and I want Shiloh and all the girls to be able to be there, too! It may be during the day and I am not sure where? So we'll have to see who can come for the first meeting. I do get to see them in their therapy session next week! I am posting things as fast as I hear them. So, what you are reading is what they have told us. I am just waiting to find out when we will start transitioning them into our home and how that works and how long it takes!

Please keep praying for so many things. All the things you can imagine....

with love, Jenny for the family

Well....things went really well today! We signed for Full Disclosure and we will be reading their files for as long as it takes. They are very extensive! After we are finished with reading and discussing things with their providers, then we will give our acceptance of the boys. It is definitely going to be a long road. We are thrilled to be a part of their lives for as long as the Lord will allow! Thank you for praying. We got past the first hurdle which was just making it to the meeting. Please continue to pray for all the details that we can't even discuss. We could really tell people were praying! PS the boys are really cute!!!

Love, Jenny for the whole family

Pre- meeting blog

We are definitely nervous! Maybe they will call tomorrow and tell us the meeting is canceled. I hope not! Yet....I find myself already trying to protect my heart. "Maybe the court date in December won't go through," "maybe they will find a relative to take the boys," "maybe they will decide they changed their minds," " maybe God has decided these are not the boys for us," maybe..... The 'maybes' are there to protect my heart.

My wonderful husband has already informed me that if these boys make it into our home, there is no protecting our hearts! Isn't that what hurts the most about love? You love and cannot see what love will look like later. Love may be taking care of these boys for a season--literally--and then love may be praying for them later as they are wrenched out of my arms only to be placed somewhere else. And still, we love. We have the command to love in John 15.17: "This is my commandment that you love one another. " Don't we get to choose whom we will love? Most of the time, yes! But, then there are those other times when you are commanded to love. This is one of those times when we are being commanded to love and loving just happens to be so easy.

Please pray for my fragile heart. I really never wanted to adopt this way. This wasn't what I had planned and yet, here I am following God's leading. I see God's hand on this in so many ways! Yet, seeing God's hand now may be to help me walk through that door. And later, He will say, this is exactly where I wanted you! Maybe even despair--dare I say that? We are sometimes found there, too, with God's voice clearly saying--"walk through this door, too!"

This weekend I found myself reflecting again on the depravity of my heart. Once again mourning the sinfulness in me. All it did though was remind me of why I am adopting these boys. Any flaw they have can't compare to the flaw in my soul. They and I need a Saviour!

And, here I end praying, Please God, protect my heart!!

Thank you everyone for praying today! Our meeting went really well, I guess one could say..... We are very excited that we did decide in the meeting to go ahead with Full Disclosure. This means that we will get to read the boys' files completely. We will get to talk to their foster parents and any other adult involved in their care. We are still very new of course to all these procedures and timelines but we will tell you as much as we can as to how this all plays out!

First off, it will be a miracle from God if we do get these children, in the same that some of you have birthed healthy children. Second, our next meeting is coming up--October 27th-- After this, we do not know when the children will get to visit us. We do know that you start with small visits and work up to weekend visits and then they come and stay with you. Third, this will not be a quick process by any means, nothing could even possibly be completed until next summer at the earliest. Fourth, we are not allowed to discuss any specific details regarding the boys history at this time.

Shiloh and I are very excited still--if not more so now--after getting to learn a little more about these little boys. We are also very much more aware of how delicate this whole process of adoption is and how important it is that we trust it completely to God and not anyone or any procedure!

Here's how you can pray, without giving you too much information. We ask for wisdom as we review the boys' lives this next month and into November. The point here is that this is a life changing decision for us and our family. Then, we ask for each of the court dates and evaluations to go on in a timely fashion. There is also another sibling (sister) involved that we would ask you to pray for as well. Just pray as you are led! We are committed to going ahead with these young boys as far as the Lord allows. Our hearts deeply hope it will be forever! We hope and pray that they will become a permanent part of our home--and we haven't even seen them yet--not even a picture!! This is all of God.

I did not know how much love was left in my heart for the children that God had for us (ie maybe these 2 boys!). I knew in my head that I would love them but today was the first day that it was actually realized (in my heart). It's just the same as when you have your second child, wondering if you will love him or her as much as you did the first. You realize your heart opens bigger to let them in. It just keeps on getting bigger and bigger. You realize that with a bigger heart becomes more of a chance to get hurt, too. But, you go ahead and take that second child and third and now 6th and 7th for us! You take them with all the joy and with all the pain that they may bring. Pain of leaving, pain of rebelling, pain of seeing them hurt, pain of the effort to raise them.....but the gift of getting to love them. Only God has given us this love. Please pray that we we remember this in the nitty gritty of this life with children! And, of course, we ask that you pray that we would get to adopt these little boys--all with the overarching understanding that it is in the Lord's will.

Thank you!!! Thank you also for everyone who said they would pray. It was amazing how we felt them! I've heard people say this and this is one of those times, we really did feel the prayers!!

Ephesians 1.5 & 6 "He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His Grace....."

Just got another call! I was told it would be 3 weeks before we could have a meeting. Now, the meeting is next Thursday, October 8th, at 1.30!!!! Please pray for us now and then and that the decision would be made clear to us!

Thank you dear friends!!

Jennifer and Shiloh

Well, we had not heard anything until.......On Sunday, I told 2 friends to pray that the social worker would call me with news. I haven't really "bugged" her. I was about to though. :) Instead I asked some of my friends who are adoptive parents , to pray. I imagine they did. Then, on Tuesday I got an "out of area" call....I had enough hope to answer it (since the state calls are blocked) and it was Sandy---our social worker in the next step of this process)......but the latest is.......the same.....2 boys are still available. We are just waiting to hear on our meeting time with the 8!!!! social workers that have to be there at the first meeting. I guess it's 4 social workers and each of their supervisors. We meet for about an hour to just get to hear a little more about the boys. We can't know everything but we get to go home and decide if we would like to proceed with them. If we do, then it's starts the whole procedure. We would get what's called Full Disclosure. We would be able to read their files and hear about all their disabilities, past history, etc.... So, please pray that the decision would be clear. We need to know if these are the boys that God has chosen for us. Practically speaking, we need to see if we can add their needs into our family. We want to take care of boys who no longer have a family and maybe these are them. It's hard not to get too excited!! However.....even if we get them, we start the process and God allows them to be taken from us....I KNOW He has a good plan. I know He will take care of them and of us! We are confident in this.

I Corinthians 13.7-8 Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.

Please pray for the boys, for our meeting to get scheduled and for the choice to be clear (for a yes or a no).

Information

So, that's all it is....just some information. We got a call asking us if we would be interested in two brothers. 4 and 18 months old. They have some physical disabilities. Hearing, sight, club (sp?) feet? We're not sure what else? But, that was 2 weeks ago that we heard about them and so much could have changed since then....OR they could call us anytime to discuss these children more. Again, if we agreed to proceed with these children, we would get to read their entire file and then make a final decision. Then, we would get to have a meeting with them at a park or a restaurant. We would get to speak with the foster parents (whom they have been with for a year now.) It all seems so vague, but I am at peace with whom God has chosen for us. He will make it very clear.

Please pray for us that we will be listening to him and that He will bring our boy or boys to us quickly!

Jennifer and Shiloh

Well, I knew I wouldn't be too good at this!  But, here we are, we just got certified on August 4th, to be adoptive parents!  Our wonderful social worker Renee Paulson read to us 17 pages of information---about us!  It was pretty much like she had a camera in our home and knew exactly what we were doing!!  Although, we admit some parts seemed written as if dream parents lived in our home.  Shiloh and I asked, "Can we meet these people?"  Anyways, at the end of our 2 hour last meeting, we signed the paperwork and we are ready for the next step.  

 

Since May of this year, we have been going to 27 hours of NM State Parenting Classes, getting physicals, filling out paperwork, getting records together for us, the kids, the pets, friends have sent in references (thank you!), and so on.  It has not been too hard of a process.....the $100 babysitting days were tough to take but other than that, we've enjoyed filling out the necessary paperwork to get to this point.  

 

One thing that stuck out to us is that our social worker does not believe in spanking and yet we were still accepted.  This is definitely evidence of God’s hand in this.  We know that that could have been an immediate denial.  However, she was willing to accept this with what she has seen with us in raising our children. 

 

This may seem a bit boring all this information so I want to get to where all of you can pray for us and how!  At this point, our file will sit on an adoption counselor’s desk.  It could sit there for quite some time.  The counselor’s are more apt to place children in foster care and have peace that they have found a home for them.  The little children that, Lord-willing, have been chosen for us, are out there in foster homes right now!  We don’t want them there any longer than they have to be, we would like to care for them now! We are certified for 1 or 2 children and we will be looking at boys right now.  If you could please find time when you think of us to ask the Lord to nudge our next counselor to call us and have our initial meeting!  Then, at that point, we would get to see what children are available right now for placement! 

 

How do we feel? We are very excited and yet honestly scared at the same time.  Yes, we “technically” get to help choose our child in the same sense that a biological child is “chosen” by a married couple.  When that child is in the womb, God fashions him or her and you have no idea what lovely little blessing will be coming to you.  These children we will get to observe for a few visits and then we have to make a final decision if we want to proceed with adoption.   Our hearts are open and ready to love this or these little boys with all that we have. 

 

If you have any questions, and you post comments, I will do my best to respond.  I never thought I would have time for a blog, but this should help in getting it out to more friends and family!  Thank you for reading and please add us to your prayers. 

 

Psalm 27 was on my heart this morning as I am writing and I had even forgotten the verses in there about “my father and my mother forsaking me” (verse 10).  These little ones are here living this right now. 

 

“Wait for the Lord, Be strong, and let your heart take courage, Yes, wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27.14)

 

 

With love, Jenny for the Fischer family

This is our very first post for a blog.  I never really wanted to have a blog, but there is finally a reason to have one and it's good.  We are embarking on the adventure of adoption.  There is so much to say behind that statement.  For now, I will just blog the details and get into more of the depth of why later.  Shiloh and I started taking the required classes for a NM state adoption in May 2009.  We have completed those and are now in the process of completing our home study.  We're not sure when that will be done but after it's completed, we are then licensed to foster or adopt in New Mexico.  It's quite exciting!  Well, I am not sure this is the best start, but I did it--I posted our first blog about our family's adoption!  For now, just pray for us in general as we start this.  With love, the Fischers :)