Puzzle Fundraiser!

To begin, here are some things for our prayer warriors to pray specifically for...

 

1. Quick approval for our i800, Article 5, and No Objection Certificate (we need these approvals before our case can move to court)

 

2. Pray we get a compassionate judge when our case does go to court (The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes. Proverbs 21:1)

 

3. Pray we get our baby girl home before her 3rd birthday in April
 

 

Now, to share with you where we got her new name...

All 3 of our boys have a Bible name and a family name, so we wanted our daughter to have the same. Her full name will be...

 

Mary-Lynn Sharles Green

 

Mary, of course, is from the Bible. Lynn is my momma's middle name and my middle name.

My momma and me

 

 

My Nanny's mother wanted her middle name to be Sharles, but the nurses misunderstood her and put Charles on her birth certificate. We wanted to use the middle name her mother intended her to have for our daughter.

Nanny's mother on the left

Nanny, my daddy's momma, in the middle and on the right

 

 

 

 

And just for fun, here is where we got our 3 boys' family names from...

 

Caleb Wayne

Caleb's middle name came from his daddy and Papa (Britt's daddy), my granddaddy also shared the same middle name 

 

Elijah Thompson

Eli's middle name came from Britt's grandparents' last name and his momma's maiden name

 

Matthew Charles

Matthew's middle name is the same as his PawPaw's (my daddy). My daddy got his middle name from his momma, Miriam Charles, but hers was suppose to be Sharles...where Mary-Lynn is getting her middle name from!! :)

And one more story because I just love this!...Obie Thomas Head Sr. (on the left) was born August 28, 1906. My daddy, Thomas Charles Head (as a child on the left, and as a PawPaw on the right), was named after him. My daddy wanted to be PawPaw Head to his grandchildren just like Obie Thomas was PawPaw Head to him. On August 28, 2013 Matthew Charles was born. So Matthew was born on his Great-Great PawPaw's birthday and Matthew Charles was named after Thomas Charles, his PawPaw. I just think that is so neat, and SO God!!

 

 

And now for the puzzle fundraiser...

 

Thank you SO much to Halie Studdard who worked with us to design our picture that we had printed onto a puzzle!

 

And thank you to my awesome husband who worked very hard to put this difficult puzzle together!!

 

 

I modge podged it all together so those tiny pieces can not get lost...

 

So now we are ready to begin...here is how it works...

 

We will hang it up in her room with the back of the puzzle showing at first! It will be a wonderful visual of all the people who have given and, more importantly, prayed to get her home!  

 

Go to...

 https://mystory.lifesongfororphans.org/stories/adopting-daughter-india/

 to donate $5 for a puzzle piece.

 

 

Lifesong has been blessed with partners who underwrite all U.S. administrative and fundraising costs (TMG Foundation and other partners). That means 100% of your donation will go directly to the adoption.

• In following IRS guidelines, your donation is to Lifesong for Orphans. This organization retains full discretion over its use, but intends to honor the donor’s suggested use.
• Lifesong is a 501(c)3 tax exempt organization. Individual donations of $50 or more and yearly donations totaling $250 or more will receive a tax-deductible receipt. Receipts for donations under $50 will gladly be sent upon request.

STRIPE charges an online processing fee (2.2% +.30 USD per transaction). Your donations will be decreased by this amount. You may also send a check payable to “Lifesong for Orphans”. In the memo line please write “Green 6422”, to ensure it is credited to our account. Please mail to Lifesong for Orphans, PO Box 40, Gridley, IL 61744.

 

Thank you!!



A New Name

Lots of pictures and updates since my last post a month ago!

 

My sister and I went to a consignment sale. I just had to buy something for our sweet girl!

 

 

Our agency, Children of the World, had a India Travel Class in Fairhope. It was very informative! I loved getting to meet the wonderful women from COTW and other adoptive families face-to-face!!

Britt with Ms. Pat, Terri, and Mary Beth...such an amazing, Godly family!


On September 16, Ms. Pat called to tell me our daughter's original documents from the orphanage had finally made it to COTW!! We had been waiting 5 weeks and 2 days (yes, I was counting!)

I was SO excited to see this FedEx package sitting at my door 3 days later! There was no new medical information, but we were able to read more on her Child Study Report than the scanned in one we had before. This made me laugh...

Although, I may not be laughing when she and Matthew gang up on me with all their boldness!!


We had an authentic Indian meal made by a sweet lady who grew up in India. Thank you again Sabrina and Roy!

Matthew wanted to stay with Mrs. Sabrina!


Once we had the original documents signed and shipped back to COTW, they started on our i800 paperwork. The i800 is a companion document to the i800a (which we were approved for on 8-11-16). The i800 looks at our child specifically. Terri e-mailed the information for us to proof-read on September 28. Two days later this was at my door...

Praying for a quick i800 approval!! The paperwork made it to USCIS (US Citizenship & Immigration Services) this morning.


Our church, First Baptist Eclectic, had an Adoption Yard Sale for us. We were BLOWN AWAY with how much was raised...$1,138.36!!

Britt found lots of chairs to rest on during the sale. As soon as one sold he would find another one. Hahaha!

 

 

The next day we had Sunitha Joe from Christ Faith Home for Children in Chennai, India with us at church!

She honored Britt as pastor by putting a scarf around him! :)

Sunitha spoke about Christ Faith Home. You can learn more about it at www.christfaithhome.in

 

 

Sunitha brought beautiful items made by the women at Christ Faith Home. I had fun shopping, especially knowing it all goes to support their orphanage.

 

 

My sweet friend, Christie, bought me this Ozark Trail cup. I love it (it's made me drink way more water) and I love it even more with my India vinyl on it...

 

 

Now for the title of this blog...A New Name...

 

In my next blog (which will hopefully be this week!), I will tell you where we got her new name and all about our puzzle fundraiser that we will be starting. So stay tuned...

 

 

This is so, so good! Please take time to read it. I know I needed it...
From Journey (Lifeway) Waiting on God
"But God often forces us to wait on Him to teach us, first, that He doesn't need human means to accomplish His plans for our lives; and second, that we can trust His ways even when they seem strange, risky, and even impossible...(1 Chron. 14) Essentially, God told David not to attack the enemy head-on. Instead, David and his army were to go to the outside of the Philistine camp and wait for the enemy to retreat. The signal that David and his army could march out to battle was the sound of God's angel army marching on the tops of the balsam trees (v. 15). Can you imagine the sound of God's invisible army marching on the treetops, waging war on behalf of David? Friend, this is the same angel army that God commands to go before you, to wage war on the impossible in order to bring about His plans for your life. Will you trust Him? Will you wait for Him instead of taking matters into your own hands? Will you stop assessing your circumstances by what you can see with your natural eyes and instead keep your focus on the One who created the world out of nothing? In 2 Kings 6...When Elisha's servant woke up the next morning and saw Aram's army surronding them, he was terrified. But Elisha prayed that God would open his servant's eyes to see reality. God answered that prayer, and the servant "saw that the mountain was covered with horses and chariots of fire" (v. 17). God's angel army. I think we get restless in the waiting because we can't see God working, so we assume He's completely forgotten about us. But just because we can't see God working doesn't mean He's not. In all things, at all times, God is working for our good."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



God is into details!!

It's been over 3 weeks since I have updated. I keep meaning to and then get sidetracked...

 

As you read in my last post, we got 5 pictures of our beautiful girl on August 14!! We all love looking at them over and over again!! We still have prayer cards. If you would like one please let me know. We are so thankful for your prayers!!

 

On August 15 we got our i800a approval letter!! That was just 6 days after our fingerprinting appointment! So we are now allowed to bring an orphan into the United States.

 

We are waiting on her original medical and child study documents to get to us from the orphanage by snail mail. It's been almost 4 weeks. Praying they get here soon!

 

After that, the next step will be the i800 which looks at our daughter specifically. An i800 approval means we can bring a specific orphan (our daughter) into the United States. But there will still be 2 more things (Article 5 and No Objection Certificate) that will have to be approved before our case finally goes to court in India. We do not travel for court. Once our case passes court the orphanage will apply for her passport and soon after we will travel to India to get her. Still a lot of waiting to do.

 

But here is an amazing God story for you...
 

On August 18th I spent most of my day filling out an application for Lifesong for Orphans (more on that in another post). We had to send an adoption testimony in with the application. I went to my very first blog post to just copy and paste our story. As I was reading back over our story that night God just hit me with this part, "But in early 2014 Britt bumped into an acquaintance from Grace Point Community Church in a hospital waiting room. She told him about Crisis Rescue International that she had just been on a mission trip with...God really began to put India on our hearts."

 

 After some research in things like old Facebook posts and Britt's hospital mileage log we figured out that the not-so chance encounter with the acquaintance in a hospital waiting room was on April 11, 2014. Y'all...our daughter was born in India on April 12, 2014! So around the time our baby girl was born in India, God was putting India on our hearts! This baby has been ours since before she was born! How amazing is our God!?!! I read this quote on Facebook recently, "Before I laid the foundations of the earth, I thought of you and of the days you would live on earth. I planned out the people and the places I would give you." We are SO beyond ready to get our baby girl home with us and I can't wait to share with her just how God has woven her adoption story together!! It just blows our minds!!

 

This past Monday God put another beautiful rainbow in my path! This is number 7 :)

 

 

Caught this picture on Thursday of our boys! I can't wait for baby sister to be added to the bunch! These brothers are just as excited and anxious as Britt and I are to get her home!

 

I like to end my blogs with the things that God is teaching me because I hope He can use it to teach you in whatever situation you are going through...

• "Adoption is costly. It's full of unknowns, scary diagnosis, and loneliness. It's full of paperwork, stress, and delays. Adoption is also full of Jesus. It's full of hope, grace, and promise. It's full of freedom, strength, and love. It's full of redemption. He adopted you and I."
• "It's never easy or pleasant to simply wait, but it is the key to seeing God move on your behalf. Trust, delight, commit, be still, and wait. Your fretting will disappear, and God will bring the victory."
• The enemy will try to limit your praying because he knows your praying will limit him.
• "But there is a WHO beyond the why, and I can tell you He's good, wise, loving, and He withholds no good thing from those who walk in His ways (Ps. 84:11). This is the God I love, trust, and seek to obey."
• Hope is more than wishing things will work out. It is resting in the God who holds all things in His wise and powerful hands. - Paul David Tripp

 

One last thing...We celebrated Matthew's 3rd birthday last weekend! That boy is still talking about his Minion cake!!



 

Please continue to pray that we will have baby sister home with us on her 3rd birthday! She is 7 1/2 months younger than Matthew. We may have partners in crime on our hands! ;)

 

 

 

 



So in love!!!

I was at praise team practice at church this morning when for some reason I had about 8 text messages come through to my phone all at the same time. One of the names that ran across the screen was Ms. Pat, our adoption agency director. I quickly grabbed my phone to see what she was texting about.
And it was good stuff y'all!

 

 

 

I went straight to my e-mail and found FIVE pictures!

And to make it even better is the smile on her beautiful little face! Melt my heart!!!

Britt was in a deacon's meeting. So I stood outside the door where I could see him through the window and pointed to my phone! He got the hint quick and told me to come on in. Very exciting morning! It has done our hearts good to hear from the orphanage in this way.

 

I wish I could share the pictures on here with you. But I am going to be printing out prayer cards to give out to people to put somewhere to remind you to pray for her and for us to get her home soon!! Our church family at First Baptist Eclectic, we will have them at church soon. For others, if you would like one just e-mail your address to me at roll_eagle@yahoo.com and I will mail one to you. (And yes, we are a house divided...I am the smart one ;) Roll Tide!)

 

 

Our 14th wedding anniversary was on Wednesday, August 10. We celebrated by signing the MER (medical examination report) and CSR (child study report) to officially match us with our daughter!!

 

 

It's amazing how much we love this little person that we have never met that lives on the other side of the world! Her brothers are just as ready to get her home as we are!

 

I am also amazed how God continues to teach me daily, showing me how living and active His word really is. Three days in a row (Friday, Saturday, and today) He has put a rainbow in my path...

 

 

My devotional on Friday was about Daniel being thrown into the lions' den. I posted a quote from it on Facebook..."Remember, what is out of your control exists under the careful control of the One who is all-knowing, all-wise, all-good." And the scripture that really stuck with me was, "He delivers and rescues; He works signs and wonders in Heaven and on earth." Daniel 6:27. Then that afternoon the rainbows started...we serve an amazing God!

 

Continue to pray that everything will go quickly and smoothly so we can get our baby girl home!

 

 

 

 

Updates...

We went to Birmingham today to do fingerprints for our i800a (it allows us to bring an orphan into the United States).

We went to the McWane Center after...

 

Then we met some sweet, sweet friends for lunch (so sorry y'all had to listen to an extremely ill, mad 2 year old through lunch! I'm sure the rest of the customers in the restaurant were sorry they had to listen to him too!)

 

Since my last blog we have celebrated our oldest son's 13th birthday...

I can't believe we have a teenager now!!

I also started homeschool this week! Pray for us!!

 

 

We still have not heard from the orphanage with updated medical information or pictures/video (that's what I'm really wanting!). They are suppose to get us information within a 30 day time period. It's been 3 1/2 weeks since we were matched. We have had some discouraging times, some anxious times. But God is still showing us things daily...

• Isaiah 60:22 "I am Yahweh; I will accomplish it quickly in its time."
• El Roi, the God who sees...He sees the whole picture, even the parts hidden from us. Our job is to trust Him!
• God is FULLY in control.
• From the song Ever Be...You Father the orphan, Your kindness makes us whole, and You shoulder our weakness, and Your strength becomes our own...
• He wants us to trade our weakness for His strength.
• From the song It Is Well...And this mountain that's in front of me will be thrown into the midst of the sea...so let go my soul and trust in Him, the waves and wind still know His name...
• Hebrews 4:15-16 "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet is without sin. Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time."
• And my favorite...God has put THREE rainbows in our path in three different places. Genesis 9:9-17 tells us that a rainbow is God's covenant/promise to us and Ezekiel 1:26-28 tells us that a rainbow is what the glory of God looks like!

 

Please continue to pray that we can get our baby girl home before her birthday in April!