Fun Weekend...Cousins, Triathlon and Friends

Corey had his first triathlon of the season in Collierville...the Sharpshooter Tri. Our family stayed with Wave, Dave and the kids for the weekend in order to be close to the race and spend some time together. We had such a great time...that Friday night, we were able to go with their small group from church to the Baptist Children's Home for a cookout and fun with the children there. Then Waverly and I stayed up until 5 am talking...we don't get to do that much with all our children :) It was so much fun! Then at 5:30, Corey and I got up and left for his race...I was quite tired!This race was a 400 meter lake swim (it looked quite ominous early in the morning), 11 mile bike and a 2 mile trail run. Corey did great even though it was very hot and humid, and it was really neat that our friends Fred Shackelford and Stan and Stephanie Dunagan competed in this race, too...it was Stan and Stephanie's first one! So proud of you guys! Our boys chose to stay with their cousins for this race, but we joined back up with them afterward. Caleb had his first loose tooth and waited for me to get back to pull it...yikes! I do not like pulling teeth. Here he is with his sweet baby tooth smile before...and his big boys toothless smile afterward!Then afterward we headed toward home, making a stop in Jackson to say goodbye to our friend, Scott McSwain. He is moving to Santiago, Chili to teach at a university for a year...we will miss him greatly and pray God's blessings on his time there. We must Skype and make more silly faces soon!We also dropped by for the boys to check in on our sweet dog, Tanner, who has lived with his new family since we moved to Paris...he is well loved and taken care of, but it was really good to see him!

Love these Girls!

This past spring, I was privileged to lead a youth girls study of the book, Crazy Love, by Francis Chan....awesome book that I suggest you read! Carol Hutson was our host this semester, and she wanted to get together with the girls for a back to school pizza party. So, we met up at Pizza Hut and it just so happened to be a night when the clowns were there!!! Check out our awesome hats ;) She also gave us all Crazy Love t-shirts..thank you Carol! We had a couple who couldn't be there, but we had a great time with those who could. We also introduced the study that we'll be starting in the Fall...Lady in Waiting by Jackie Kendall...can't wait!!!

Big Announcement....We're Adopting!

Along with all the amazing things we experienced this summer, one HUGE thing happened...God affirmed to us the decision to adopt a little girl from Honduras! We have been praying about adoption for at least a year, and in His timing, we have come to a peace about His will for us. In addition to preparing our hearts for this adoption journey, He has given us one confirmation after another. While in Honduras this summer, we began to realize that the doors for adoption that had previously been closed are slowly but surely beginning to open. When we arrived home and headed to the SBC, we continued to be prayerful, and we received a very clear answer. The SBC has begun an adoption grant for pastors and missionaries to help with part of the cost. There were multiple testimonies given about the amazing impact adoption had on these families. At one point Corey looked over at me, and we just knew we were being called to adoption as a family. God placed in my heart a desire for a daughter long ago...I truly believe that God knew He would bless us with two amazing boys and then use that desire for a daughter to lead us to adoption.

Some of you may wonder why we are adopting. Other than what I've already shared, we absolutely love the picture of God's love and redemption for us that adoption gives. Those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ have been adopted into the family of God. We are now co-heirs with Christ...isn't that amazing? He saw our great need and He reached out and not only met our needs, but has given us the promise of an eternal inheritance. He desired a relationship with us, sought us out, paid the high price of His only Son Jesus...and we were worth it to Him.

Our boys are so very excited about having a little sister! If you've been around them lately, they've probably already told you about it! They cannot wait...but will have to :) The process will likely take at least a year. Some other answers you might be wondering about...We did consider adopting domestically...we actually had our information at Tomorrow's Hope, our local Crisis Pregnancy Center, for several months. We looked at other agencies, but simply felt this is what we are being led to do. We do not have a specific child that we are adopting. We just know that she will likely be somewhere between 0-3 years old. We honestly don't know what the final cost will be...somewhere between $15,000-22,000 probably. Wow! I know...but how many times do people spend that much money on a car in a lifetime without blinking. Honestly, this has been one of the huge faith barriers God has brought us through. We don't know exactly how, but we know that He will provide. He has always provided and been faithful to us when we've followed His will...and He will this time, too. We are in the process of a home study right now. This includes interviews with our family and a visit to our home. It also includes lots of paperwork, background checks, fingerprinting, etc. When we finish the home study, the US government will review our paperwork and have to approve our family for adoption. We will then send all the information to the Honduran government and they will begin reviewing our dossier (all the required paperwork). Then they will match us with a child that fits our request. This can take anywhere from 6 months to over a year. At the end of the process, we will travel to Honduras twice...once to meet our daughter, go through interviews with the government, complete paperwork...And then we'll have to come back home without her for about 2 months. We'll return a final time to finalize the paperwork and then she'll be ours! It seems so far away right now, but I am praying God will allow the process to go smoothly and give us much patience!

I know this has been a long post, but there is just so much to share. Please know that we are all very open to answer any questions anyone might have...we love you all so much and are so happy to be transparent and share our lives with you.

Constructors for Christ 2010

Oh my goodness...I cannot tell you how excited we were to be going to help another church build this year just like so many others gave their time to help us last summer! A total of eleven from Maplewood went to Spotsylvania, Virginia this summer to help Craig's Baptist Church build their new facility. The week Corey and I traveled, we took six. Caleb and Bennett were supposed to go, but the site was just too dangerous for kids, so they ended up having an awesome week with Ge and Grumps for a few days and with Aunt Waverly, Uncle David and the cousins for a few days. We were so grateful that our family stepped in at the last minute in order for us to go. We knew they would have a great time. The guys mostly hung sheetrock during the week...lots of it! Deanna and I kept the site clean and completed other random jobs that needed our attention until we decided to buy overalls in honor of Ray...amazingly we got promoted to sheetrock that day, too! It was such a wonderful week...we truly love Constructors and their heart for the Lord. What a blessing to serve alongside those served us! Here are a few pictures from our week!Haha...don't ask! This picture would NOT turn the right way!
Another really special thing for me was that my Great Uncle Ab and Aunt Wanda lived 10 minutes from our hotel! I haven't been to their home since I was in the second grade, but remember the beautiful farm, riding their pony and helping feed the horses. We were able to visit with them for a couple of hours one night. They called the family over too..it was a wonderful addition to our week!

End of a Season

We had a wonderful t-ball season this year. It was especially fun that Caleb and Bennett were able to be on a team together for the first time ever! They loved it, and so did we :) We played with Tri-Turf Sod again...Mrs. Tina and Mr. Jason are the best team sponsors ever. We had a great time celebrating a great season with a cookout. Mrs. Miranda was up to her baking again...her cakes are always yummy and were a real treat for the party! Mrs. Tina grilled some yummy burgers and hot dogs, and Coach George and Coach Corey handed out the trophies. What a fun season...we're done with t-ball for now, but we'll be ready for next year!

Fourth of July Cookout at the Cain's

Each year for the 4th of July, our family invites our church family over to celebrate the freedom we have in America as well as the freedom we have in Christ Jesus. We love this time of fellowship, and are so blessed to live here in this wonderful country where we're able to gather like this with our church. We had a great turnout...around 100 people, and the guys baking contest was the stiffest competition to date! The men enjoyed several games of corn hole while some of the other played football. I didn't take a single picture with my camera, so thank you Karen for letting me use yours :) Happy 4th of July!We love silly faces...had to put this one in!