God's Timing

Well, first of all.....WE WON LAST NIGHT! Yeah! My team really came together and it was so much fun! We are now advancing to the semi-finals of our conference tournament. We are facing the # 1 seed, so we definitely have our work cut out for us. Nevertheless, I have confidence in my team. They are young...but they play with so much heart! They are really coming together and I am so proud of them. Wish us luck! GO COUGARS!

Secondly, and the bigger reason that I am posting today...is that God is teaching me a few things in this wait. I receive daily devotionals from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Today's devotion really hit home with me and our adoption. Please read this devotional. It definitely impacted me and my understanding of "God's Timing". I hope that you also gain something from it.

God's Fingerprints Tuesday, October 30th, 2007

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."-Romans 8:28

Game four of the 2007 World Series featured a pitching match-up of two men who had faced more pressure than their current big stage could offer. Jon Lester of the Boston Red Sox and Aaron Cook of the Colorado Rockies both had life-threatening illnesses they had to overcome in order to make it to the pinnacle of baseball. "I don't think it's a coincidence," Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. "I think this game drips with irony. I believe in a lot of different venues that God's fingerprints are all over a lot of things if we are able to open our eyes and recognize it." "This is going to sound funny," added Boston reliever Mike Timlin, "but God blessed Jon Lester with cancer just to show a lot of people that you can overcome something that's so hard in your life you think, 'I'm not gonna make it.' He's going to be able to take his faith in God and the strength God gave him and tell a lot of other people a great story."

Have you ever asked the question, "Why does God allow suffering?" Most of us have questioned God during difficult times in life. But on the other hand, have you ever asked the question, "Why does God allow joy and peace in life?" Kind of interesting, isn't it? Even though we live in a sinful world, we still automatically assume that we should experience the "good things" in life, but when any pain comes we begin to question God and His plan.

God sovereignly orchestrates the events in the lives of His people to bring honor and glory to Himself and to bring us into a deeper relationship with Him. Keeping this in mind, may we continually trust in God and His plan even when it doesn't make sense to us.

Have a Great Day!
Love,
Kathy

The Wait May Be Longer Than Expected....

Just a quick update....

I received an email from Janiece at Children's Hope International today. She said that currently many families are having to wait an average of 5 months between visits. YIKES! This may put us in Russia over Christmas! Please pray that we can go sooner than that..... We are still praying for a "Thanksgiving trip".

Just wanted to let you know.... We'll post again later....

Love,
Kathy

Conference Tournament

Well, our regular season has ended and now we are in the Conference Tournament. This season has gone by so fast and has been a blast. We are currently 17-13....which may not sound impressive....but we have such a young team. I'm really proud of their accomplishments! We are going into the Conference Tournament as the 4th seed overall (out of 13 teams). We are hosting tomorrow night's match and we are definitely pumped for this match! I hope that our team comes out with the intensity and desire that I have seen recently. We have a great shot at winning the whole tournament if we play like we can. Wish us luck! :o)

Still no news on the adoption front. We are still optimistic that we will travel by Thanksgiving. We pray about this everyday. I was looking over all of our documents last night (from our dossier). I believe that we have everything up to date...so hopefully, we won't need to provide any extra documents in the next couple of months. Hopefully, we will just get the call for a court date and then, start making travel plans!

We hope that you are all doing well! Take Care and God Bless!

Love,
Shane and Kathy

Waiting.....Waiting.....

Ahh...each day still seems so far away from the date that we get to return to Russia! It's so hard when the date is "unknown". We don't know if we will be waiting until Nov, Dec, Jan, .....who knows? We are really praying that we will be able to bring Trey home by Christmas. We are SOOOOOO ready!

I was talking to my brother, Mike, the other night about the waiting. It's not like we have been waiting 9 months, such as a traditional pregnancy. We have been in the adoption process for 16 months! (and counting....) Also, when we really look at it, Shane and I have been trying to have kids for over 3 years now. We have spent so much time with doctors, so much money (again with doctors....and with mounds of paperwork and investigations), and so much time in prayer about this. WE ARE READY! We really want to reap the benefits of all of this and get the reward.....our little guy! :o) We know that the time is coming. We just have to be patient.

It's been a wild ride to building a family......and with all of our frustrations, Shane has kept me grounded to remind me that "this was God's plan all along". It just seems as the most difficult process. For all of you reading that could have kids easily or even had an "accident", you can consider yourselves blessed. You will never understand the heartache that others have to go through to complete their dreams of parenthood. I try my hardest not to be bitter....because again....It's all in God's plan, right? We know that there was a reason in all of this. And....in the end, Trey needs a home. We have lots of love to give and we feel that we are the perfect parents for him. It's going to be so much fun to raise him! :o)

I just keep my eyes on the prize.....our little Trey! He's the most adorable boy and soon he will be ours. We can't wait! Hopefully, we will have good news soon.

Take Care and God Bless!

Go Vikings!

I just have to mention how cute Shane is..... Yesterday was the big "Vikings vs. Bears" football game! Therefore, Shane invited a couple of his friends over (Bears fans, of course) and was prepared to cheer his Vikings on to victory! In Shane's preparations, he dressed himself in his new "Adrian Peterson" jersey. Shane also wanted some "strength in numbers". Therefore, he hung Trey's tiny little "Adrian Peterson" jersey up on a hanger in the living room as well! Shane is so excited to have a "little Vikings fan" in the house in the near future.

Needless to say, the Vikings won! It was an exciting game and Shane was particularly happy to have this victory---living in Bears' Country, of course! :o)

Anyway, I just wanted to share this cute little moment (as Shane brought out the tiny jersey for the occasion). We are getting VERY EXCITED for his arrival!

Have a GREAT Day!

Each Day is One Day Closer....

Hello,

We don't have any news on the adoption front. However, we are hoping to hear something soon. Please continue to keep this in your prayers.

We are getting so anxious. We really feel "ready" for the call. We are starting to really miss Trey and can't wait to be re-united with him! We just watched his video again on Sunday and had several laughs at all of the fun things he does and enjoyed seeing his beautiful smile.

In the meantime, life is very good. My volleyball team is playing very well lately and we are hoping to really "peak" as October progresses. I'm having the best time with this group of young women! They are so much fun to coach and they are improving daily. I am including a picture of my team...so you can see them! They also have been extremely supportive of our adoption ventures and are so excited to meet Trey as well.

We hope that you are all doing well! Take Care and God Bless!