brand spankin' new~

I really can't decide where to begin. Being new here fills me with a million questions. None of which really matter to anyone but me! Still, I don't want this "Hello" post to be about me or us or our family. But I just think it could come across rude to just pop in like I've been here forever. It feels like I have though.

Over the last week, I've worked my way through many contributors' posts and I've gotten to know your hearts. I've wept for you and with you. My spirit has rejoiced with yours. I've laughed out loud at you and because of you. I've confiscated my husband's Macbook and read your posts to him through downright belly giggles and at times, tears streaming. You've made your way into my heart through your words. And I'm really, really happy to be part of you. A teeny tiny new part of the No Hands But Ours community.

If you're wondering who I am or what we're about, you'll find the full skinny here. The abbreviated version will do nicely though. In short {not really}, I'm a mama to two precious daughters by birth {current ages 11 and 9} and a Thai Tornado of a son {age 5}. My husband and I celebrated 15 years of blissful marriage last week. We live in the Southeast US where he serves as a youth and education pastor. I left the world of working with surgeons in Labor and Delivery ten years ago to be home with our first daughter and haven't looked back since. We have a wonderful {for us!} school situation in which our children attend a private Christian school on Monday's and Wednesdays and we home school the three remaining days. We are under the authority umbrella of the school {it's not a co-op situation}. So the school choses curriculum, degreed teachers teach all classes, etc. We as parents carry out assignments on home days and fill in gaps of teaching them one on one. This is our third year and we absolutely love it. I'm also a part time photographer. I began my business in the hopes of helping adopting families offset financial strains during the process to bring home their children. The Lord has blessed it and we are grateful.

I will say, I've been drawn to adoption all my life. Strangely though, until adulthood, I never knew anyone who had been adopted nor anyone who had adopted. It may be more accurate to say, I've always been drawn to orphans. I remember listening to an old 33 LP album of Disney's "The Rescuers" over and over and over as a small child. I wanted to go in and rescue Penney like the two little mice were. I was angry at the dreadful Gogans in "Pete's Dragon". And my heart broke over and over again the hundreds of times I watched "Annie". I also begged my parents for an Xavier Roberts authentic "Adoption Doll" {now the everyday version is Cabbage Patch Kids} in the early 80's. Gosh. I'm so old. I was in the 1st grade and remember in detail going to the specialty store {the only local place where these dolls were sold}, standing before the owner of the store, and raising my right hand in promise that I would care for her and love her. Then, I signed the official adoption papers in my best 7 year old penmanship. The fact that I was adopting her filled my heart with joy.

I won't go into all of the details here because really, who has the time!?! And it's so detailed on our family blog...but the Lord changed our lives when our son came home in 2009. We began to understand Him in a different way. We were living out the Gospel in a completely new way. New to us anyway. The adoption of His people has been the heart of God, even since the foundation of the world. It was never His plan B. It was always THE plan, in full force before we ever fluttered in our mom's bellies or gasped for our first breath. And the adoption of orphans has more Biblical parallels than I can fathom.

We saw our son's picture in a waiting child catalog that came in the mail from our agency. He had several special needs at the time but in God's goodness, many were resolved before we traveled to Thailand for him. No one would even know the hurdles and tragedy that he endured during the first year of his life now...he is a happy and healthy and I must say, beautiful little boy inside and out. We are completely blessed.

Earlier this year, at the leading of the Lord, we began a second adoption for a son from China. We named him Seth and fell quickly and madly in love. He had five heart defects {ToF + a minor defect} as well as a radial club right hand. One month to the day after receiving PA from China, we received the devastating news on November 14th that Seth had died. It has been such a difficult and blessed three short weeks that we have walked. I wouldn't wish this loss on anyone. But the outpouring of love and support and prayers has been overwhelming. And has only solidified our desire and resolve to bring home a China heart baby boy. Seth's story lives on and the Lord is using his albeit short, but precious life, to do amazing things.

Again, I'm blessed by you all and I hope that in some way, I can be an encouragement to you as we step out in faith once again onto this risky adoption road. My prayer is that anything I write here will shine a huge spotlight on Jesus and not on myself; that others would see the precious privilege and joy of changing orphans into sons and daughters and that through it all, our lives would live up to the great calling we all have to love and care for the fatherless.

Merry Christmas new friends!

For His fame alone~

Kam