For a boy:
For a girl:
We moved 4 on the girl list and 5 on the boy list this month :) We have heard lots of good news this week and are so thankful! I have a feeling March is going to be an even better month!!
March 2, 2012
February Numbers!
We are praising God this week for the movement in our numbers this month! Not only does it mean that we are closer to our baby, but it also means that more kids have found families and come home!! The movement this month was just the encouragement we needed.
February 28, 2012
More Good News!
Well, God just continues to show Himself faithful and confirm in us that we are doing what He has called us to do. About a week ago we got word that we had been approved for our church's matching grant through Lifesong! We just continue to be humbled and grateful! With this grant, if we raise $1,000 they will match that and give us another $1,000! So potentially we could have another $2,000 coming our way, so so awesome!! That puts us almost fully funded for this adoption!! Never in a million years would I have thought we could do this on our own, raise $30,000 to pay for this adoption, but with God anything is possible and He has been faithful every step of the way. So, if you would like to be a part of helping us reach the goal for this grant it's easy!
Simply send a check made out to Lifesong for Orphans to:
We have until April 10th to raise this money and we would be so grateful if you feel led to support us in this way. *****These donations are tax deductible****** If not, as always we appreciate and covet your prayers and would love for you to pray boldly with us as we shared in the last post, that we would have a referral by the end of the year! While we were out of town last week there were 4 referrals!! What awesome news to come home too! That puts us that much closer to our baby! And we are rejoicing with 5 families that heard they were cleared by the Embassy yesterday and today and can bring their babies home next week!!!! He is worthy of all our praise!!
Simply send a check made out to Lifesong for Orphans to:
And in the memo line of the check write: Preference Coalson/#2554 AdoptionLifesong for Orphans
PO Box 40/202 N. Ford St.
Gridley, IL 61744
We have until April 10th to raise this money and we would be so grateful if you feel led to support us in this way. *****These donations are tax deductible****** If not, as always we appreciate and covet your prayers and would love for you to pray boldly with us as we shared in the last post, that we would have a referral by the end of the year! While we were out of town last week there were 4 referrals!! What awesome news to come home too! That puts us that much closer to our baby! And we are rejoicing with 5 families that heard they were cleared by the Embassy yesterday and today and can bring their babies home next week!!!! He is worthy of all our praise!!
February 13, 2012
Just Ask!
This post has been on my heart all week and I've been trying to figure out exactly how to put into words all that the Lord has taught me this week. This week has been an emotional roller coaster to say the least. Those of you who know us or read this blog regularly know, that this process has been moving SLOW over the past few months. We were hopeful that things would speed up at the beginning of the year, but from the looks of things, the opposite is happening. It has to do with the US Embassy in ET and the additional paperwork and interviews they are now requiring once families have already passed court, which also makes it hard for our agency to take in babies b/c they are careful to only bring in babies who have their paperwork in order, thus a slowdown in referrals b/c not many babies have all the necessary paperwork, and a slowdown in the process in general due to all the extra requirements. There are more things involved, but these are the basics of what's going on right now. We were asked about 10 times at church yesterday how the process was going, and the only thing I can say is, slow. It's hard to really explain or know what people are looking for in these 5 minute interactions, so, slow is what I've been sticking with. This week has been one of the most discouraging and yet uplifting weeks we have had in this entire process. People are really just starting to see the implications of this slow down, and what that means for those of us on the higher end of the list. Some are saying we could be waiting for years now, others have said they could shut the whole thing down entirely, and all these things together with the fact that several friends have just had babies and others are getting pregnant, makes for one discouraging week when all I'm longing to do is see our baby's face. Yes, I know I've blogged many times about all of this happening in God's timing and how His timing is best, but on weeks like this, it's just hard to preach that to yourself for the millionth time in the past 15 months. Just being real here, and yes, I did just say 15 months, that's how long we've been in this process. When we started this process the wait time was 9-12 months and we thought we would have had a baby by this point, but now the wait has jumped to 18-24 months, if we're lucky. I've really struggled with all of this this week, questioning God, wondering if we should switch programs, things like that. Really just doubting. Now, I don't say all of this to be a downer, I'm just being real and documenting all I've been dealing with this week so you can see how awesome our Father is.
So, Wednesday of this week was probably the lowest point. I knew that I needed to get in the Word, but my heart just wasn't in it at that point. But I did it anyway, and y'all God just spoke straight to my heart! I've been doing Beth Moore's study on James and that day was talking about asking for wisdom. How when we ask for wisdom, God will give it to us, with no judgement(James 1:5). The catch is, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind" James 1:6. I started praying that this would not be me, even though in that moment it was. In my mind, I knew God was faithful, and I knew He had called us to this, but I was still doubting. Then, we read in Matthew where we are told to ask and it will be given to us, seek and we will find. And it hit me, I haven't been asking. I'm confessing that I had settled into this complacency of thinking that things were out of my hands, that this wait was going to be long, and there was nothing I could do about it, so I hadn't been praying. I hadn't been asking God to show himself mighty and show us our baby this year. But the real kicker was at the end of the lesson, we ended up in 1 Kings 18, verse 21 "And Elijah came near to all the people and said "how long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." Seriously?? This was God giving me exactly what I needed in that very moment, and I don't know if it's ever been that clear before. Do I believe God is God? Yes!! Then I need to follow Him, trust Him, know that He has seen the end of this adoption before it even began! I was so thankful for such a specific word from the Lord. It was exactly what I needed to keep moving forward. I don't need to listen to what the world says, but what God says. So we have decided that we are boldly and specifically praying for a referral by the end of the year. We know that nothing is impossible for our God, and He can do it. He can show us our baby's face by the end of the year and we are believing Him for that!
Fast forward to this weekend, we celebrated our church's 10th Anniversary of being the Summit. It was an incredibly awesome service, focused on God and His glory. Over and over again stories were told of how they needed God to do something, like raise more money to expand their facilities and believe God for more growth, and God did above and beyond what they asked. They needed $60,000 and He gave them $80,000. They had a goal to see 1000 people at the Easter service and He gave them 1122. Over the past 10 years, after that first service when they jumped in faith, they've given almost $8,000,000 to missions for the glory of God! Everyone just repeated over and over that it's in God's character to be faithful, for Him to finish what He started, for Him to do above and beyond what we can imagine(Eph. 3:20, our adoption verse) we just have to ASK!! Our Father wants to give good gifts to His children, He wants to get the glory in our situations, we just have to ASK!!! I felt like it was just being hammered over and over again, that I need to ask. We both left with our hearts full, not only with what God has done/will do in our church, but because God has promised He is faithful, He will finish what he started with this adoption and we need to continue to ask. Our church also has a saying that's part of our Gospel prayer that says "I will measure your compassion by the cross, and your power by the resurrection."This power is available to us each and every day and we need to live that way. My prayer was affirmed even more and we will boldly pray that this year will be the year we see our baby and we would love for you to pray with us if you are reading this. I am so thankful for a Father who still speaks to his people, knows my heart, and knows exactly what I need. To Him be the glory forever......
So, Wednesday of this week was probably the lowest point. I knew that I needed to get in the Word, but my heart just wasn't in it at that point. But I did it anyway, and y'all God just spoke straight to my heart! I've been doing Beth Moore's study on James and that day was talking about asking for wisdom. How when we ask for wisdom, God will give it to us, with no judgement(James 1:5). The catch is, "But let him ask in faith, with no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind" James 1:6. I started praying that this would not be me, even though in that moment it was. In my mind, I knew God was faithful, and I knew He had called us to this, but I was still doubting. Then, we read in Matthew where we are told to ask and it will be given to us, seek and we will find. And it hit me, I haven't been asking. I'm confessing that I had settled into this complacency of thinking that things were out of my hands, that this wait was going to be long, and there was nothing I could do about it, so I hadn't been praying. I hadn't been asking God to show himself mighty and show us our baby this year. But the real kicker was at the end of the lesson, we ended up in 1 Kings 18, verse 21 "And Elijah came near to all the people and said "how long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him." Seriously?? This was God giving me exactly what I needed in that very moment, and I don't know if it's ever been that clear before. Do I believe God is God? Yes!! Then I need to follow Him, trust Him, know that He has seen the end of this adoption before it even began! I was so thankful for such a specific word from the Lord. It was exactly what I needed to keep moving forward. I don't need to listen to what the world says, but what God says. So we have decided that we are boldly and specifically praying for a referral by the end of the year. We know that nothing is impossible for our God, and He can do it. He can show us our baby's face by the end of the year and we are believing Him for that!
Fast forward to this weekend, we celebrated our church's 10th Anniversary of being the Summit. It was an incredibly awesome service, focused on God and His glory. Over and over again stories were told of how they needed God to do something, like raise more money to expand their facilities and believe God for more growth, and God did above and beyond what they asked. They needed $60,000 and He gave them $80,000. They had a goal to see 1000 people at the Easter service and He gave them 1122. Over the past 10 years, after that first service when they jumped in faith, they've given almost $8,000,000 to missions for the glory of God! Everyone just repeated over and over that it's in God's character to be faithful, for Him to finish what He started, for Him to do above and beyond what we can imagine(Eph. 3:20, our adoption verse) we just have to ASK!! Our Father wants to give good gifts to His children, He wants to get the glory in our situations, we just have to ASK!!! I felt like it was just being hammered over and over again, that I need to ask. We both left with our hearts full, not only with what God has done/will do in our church, but because God has promised He is faithful, He will finish what he started with this adoption and we need to continue to ask. Our church also has a saying that's part of our Gospel prayer that says "I will measure your compassion by the cross, and your power by the resurrection."This power is available to us each and every day and we need to live that way. My prayer was affirmed even more and we will boldly pray that this year will be the year we see our baby and we would love for you to pray with us if you are reading this. I am so thankful for a Father who still speaks to his people, knows my heart, and knows exactly what I need. To Him be the glory forever......
February 1, 2012
January Numbers
We got January numbers yesterday, on the last day of January! Still not a lot of movement this month, but slowly but surely we are moving, making a little progress each month. Our boy number is still the same due to some families changing parameters and moving to the boy list, but there has been progress there as well, which is always encouraging to see in this long journey!
For a girl:
For a boy:
There you have it, 69 for a girl and 57 for a boy! Praying for more movement this month!
January 24, 2012
Humbled
There really aren't words to describe the humbled feeling that Aaron and I have felt over the past week. We are still in the process of fundraising for this adoption. As you all know, adoption is expensive and we are two 25 year olds, one in seminary, that don't make a lot of money. And yet God has called us to adopt. Something that very obviously doesn't make sense on paper. Once we said yes and decided to take the leap of faith, we knew that God would provide, we didn't know how, but we trusted. We have seen God work and move and provide every step of the way through this process. Any time we had money due for a certain step, it was there. Miraculously it all came together. Friends, family, and strangers have all played important roles in God's plan to make that happen. We have by the grace of God, raised everything that we needed up to this point. We are so thankful for that! After we turned in our dossier, we took a break from fundraising. And honestly, even after watching everything come together in the beginning, part of me doubted. Part of me thought, yeah we made it this far, but how are we going to come up with the 10, possibly $15,000 more that we need? I was fundraised-out you could say and my mind was drawing a blank of what to do next, but I knew we had a long wait ahead to figure it out. Once again, my lack of faith got the better of me. I was trying to do it on our own again. I was focused on how WE could make it happen, not on trusting GOD to make it happen. When will I learn? God is so much bigger. I have debated on even posting about this, but y'all, God is just working. He is so good, faithful, and loving. He truly cares about each one of His children. Back in October we applied for a grant. The only one we've applied for up to this point, besides the one our church offers. We scrambled to get the paperwork together(I was so over paperwork still) and mailed it off, hoping and praying for any little bit of help we could get. Well, last week we got a letter in the mail, a letter from the grant agency letting us know that we had been awarded $6000!!!! We could hardly believe it, we can still hardly believe it and we are incredibly humbled. Humbled that God would put us on this journey, that He would use us, and that He would provide for us in such a mighty way! This could possibly be about half of what we have left to raise, depending on travel costs, which we won't know until that point. I don't say this to brag, I just want everyone to know that our God is mighty. He owns the cattle of a thousand hills and this adoption cost is a drop in the bucket for Him. When my feeble mind starts to lose faith and question, He is right there saying "haven't I told you that I got this? Haven't I told you that I love you and this child you are bringing home? That nothing is impossible for me? I am Faithful" Praise God is all we can say. Our adoption verse, Ephesians 3:20-21 just continues to resound in my head- To Him who is able to do abundantly more than all we ask or think....to Him be the glory!!
January 20, 2012
Naleigh Moon
Oh, be still my heart!! You have got to watch this new music video from Josh Kelly that features he and his wife Katherine Heigl's adopted daughter, sooo beautiful!!
January 16, 2012
Kisses From Katie
I just finished reading Kisses from Katie, and y'all, this book wrecked me!! I knew that it would be good, I've read Katie's blog before and have always come away inspired to put more feet on my faith and to know Jesus the way she does. This book was seriously incredible!! I could not put it down, and yet there were days that I had to because if I read anymore of it I'm pretty sure I would have jumped on a plane to Africa right then. Reading the accounts of some of the things she has seen made me ache even more for our baby. It also made me ready to do something. What that is or looks like at the moment I'm not sure, but you better believe I am praying and seeking the Father's face for wisdom. The copy I had I checked out from the library, which I immediately regretted because I couldn't write in it and I felt like I should have highlighted the whole book! I wanted to share a few things here that really stood out to me. This is an excerpt from one of Katie's journal entries in the book:
"I've had people ask me why I think Africa is so impoverished, but these children are not poor.
I, as a person who grew up wealthy, am. I put value in things. These children, having no
things, put value in God. I put my trust in relationships; these children, having already seen
relationships fail, put their trust in the Lord. This nation is blessed beyond any place, any
people I have encountered. God has not forgotten them. In fact, I believe He has loved them
just a little bit extra. I sit here freezing and wet in this pitch-black room as the rain beats on
the roof, and God is so close I feel I can touch Him. My deepest prayer is that I could know
the Lord as well as the first grader next to me. My senses are full of His greatness. God's
glory has fallen down into this place and is soaking us even deeper than the rain. I never want
to be dry. "
Wow! So beautiful and convicting. The fact that these first graders she is teaching have so much more faith than I do, because God is all they have, really puts things in perspective. After reading this, seeing how open Katie is to the Holy Spirit and seeing the Gospel on display in her life pretty much every day, convicted me that I really need to strive to see the Gospel in everything and have that be my reason for doing what I do. Just being real here. Too many times I find myself just going with the flow, not really seeking God for what He would have me to do in certain situations, and that's just not right and not how I want to live my life. So I'm praying about how my life can be leveraged for the Gospel. I might not have children with scabies around me dying of hunger that I can bring into my home, but there are things I can do here.
It is so refreshing to see a young girl, who pretty much had it all according to America's standards, completely give it all up to follow what Jesus has for her life. And it is a beautiful life she is living. She is seeing God work daily, and seeing the blessing of following him. Hers is a life that is being leveraged for the Gospel, she is making a difference in Uganda, and because of her, countless many others have come to know Him. I can't imagine being 22 and already having 13 children, but she is doing it, with God's grace. This story is just so, so beautiful!! If you haven't read this yet, I encourage you to. I pray that it will also change you and the many others who read it. It's amazing what God can do through us if we let Him!!
"I've had people ask me why I think Africa is so impoverished, but these children are not poor.
I, as a person who grew up wealthy, am. I put value in things. These children, having no
things, put value in God. I put my trust in relationships; these children, having already seen
relationships fail, put their trust in the Lord. This nation is blessed beyond any place, any
people I have encountered. God has not forgotten them. In fact, I believe He has loved them
just a little bit extra. I sit here freezing and wet in this pitch-black room as the rain beats on
the roof, and God is so close I feel I can touch Him. My deepest prayer is that I could know
the Lord as well as the first grader next to me. My senses are full of His greatness. God's
glory has fallen down into this place and is soaking us even deeper than the rain. I never want
to be dry. "
Wow! So beautiful and convicting. The fact that these first graders she is teaching have so much more faith than I do, because God is all they have, really puts things in perspective. After reading this, seeing how open Katie is to the Holy Spirit and seeing the Gospel on display in her life pretty much every day, convicted me that I really need to strive to see the Gospel in everything and have that be my reason for doing what I do. Just being real here. Too many times I find myself just going with the flow, not really seeking God for what He would have me to do in certain situations, and that's just not right and not how I want to live my life. So I'm praying about how my life can be leveraged for the Gospel. I might not have children with scabies around me dying of hunger that I can bring into my home, but there are things I can do here.
It is so refreshing to see a young girl, who pretty much had it all according to America's standards, completely give it all up to follow what Jesus has for her life. And it is a beautiful life she is living. She is seeing God work daily, and seeing the blessing of following him. Hers is a life that is being leveraged for the Gospel, she is making a difference in Uganda, and because of her, countless many others have come to know Him. I can't imagine being 22 and already having 13 children, but she is doing it, with God's grace. This story is just so, so beautiful!! If you haven't read this yet, I encourage you to. I pray that it will also change you and the many others who read it. It's amazing what God can do through us if we let Him!!
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