Responding In Faith

Please go to this link to see some beautiful pictures of our boys!! This is a great tour of Liberia from the Rutledge family! Thanks so much Angel and Dan!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/rutledgecrew/RutledgeLiberiaTripSept2007?authkey=3G0CALOnXnE

My heart is so happy!!

This is the latest news from the Rutledge family! Angel took time out of her busy day to call me yesterday! It was so good to speak to her and to find out how are boys are doing. She was telling me that all the kids want a mommy and daddy. The boys were excited to hear about their American family, but also a little scared. Everyone was full of smiles! I feel in my heart that the time is growing closer. I am so excited!! Here is a copy of her email that she sent to our Liberian yahoo group:

We were able to change our flights and arrived home a couple of days
early…last night. Thank you to all who were praying for our trip!
It was so obvious that we were covered in prayer. God blessed us in
amazing ways!

I’m sorry for those who would have sent us with letters and photos
but thought we might not travel. I tried to post our plans, but I
know it was confusing with the possibility that Henry’s visa would
not be issued. We were able to get photos of all the children at the
orphanage (unexpected and amazing!), so if you DIDN’T send us
anything to take, email me, and I will send your child’s photo as
soon as we can sort everything out. If you DID send us with things
for your children, we were able to get photos and measurements, and I
will send them along as soon as possible. Some of the children wrote
letters, and we will send them out.

I did see the posts on calling the orphanage. I know it is so hard,
but please do not call your children on Ma Josephine’s number. It is
SO incredibly expensive for them to receive phone calls from the US.
None of the matrons at the orphanage would tell you this…they would
give anything they had for the children, but they cannot afford to
put more minutes on their phones. A 20 minute call may cost $5-10
USD, and they only receive about $30 a month in salary. Sometimes,
there is not even enough money for them to receive a salary. I don’t
want to make the situation sound extreme or scare anyone and cut off
a way to communicate with your children. I know we were desperate for
any news before we went. Just know that we saw all the children
several times, and they all seemed in good spirits and well loved by
the matrons.

I believe that the adoptions will start to move forward now that some
money is coming in as a few are being completed. The hold up really
has been money coupled with the usual difficulties of getting any
work accomplished in Liberia. Pastor Kofi has recently become very
aware of the fear and confusion experienced by all of the adoptive
families, and he wants very much to ease those fears and has
communicated to his staff how important it is to finish the adoptions
and communicate well with families on this end.

We will post a lot on our blog as we get time. We will also upload
photos as we get time. www.rutledge6.blogspot.com
Our children our beautiful and amazing and it is better than we ever
imagined to have them home. We know this is the honeymoon stage and
are prepared for future challenges, but for now we are just enjoying
each moment with them.

As for Henry’s visa…we don’t know why it was approved. It was
nothing short of a huge miracle. When we got to the embassy for our
appointment with Angel, the consular asked where Henry was. We
brought him right in. She asked a couple of questions and told us to
come back a few days later to pick up the visas. Siede couldn’t
believe it either.

Okay, the kids just appeared wanting Mom, so I have to run. I am
continuing to pray for you all.

Many blessings,
Angel

I have added a prayer request page if you would like to know specific prayers that are needed in our life!  It is located on the right side under pages.  Our family appreciates your prayers!

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious conrerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed.” Isaiah 28:16  (NIV)

Oh, I have good news from Liberia!  I would like to share with you an email that I received from Dan and Angel:

Hi guys.  We did talk to Seidi.  They are ready to take your cases to

court, but they need you to wire the money to them first as it costs about

800 USD just to go to court.  We are confident that they will put the

paperwork through once you send the money.  Seide is working hard on

things, but the funds are extremely tight and it looks like they do tend to

move things forward when they get chunks of money in.  But it does appear

that they are feeding the kids and taking care of things at the orphanage.

We have pictures and your camera and a letter and will sort that out when

we get home.

We took an earlier flight and are in Brussels now and home tonight.

Talk to you soon.

Dan and Angel

Praise the Lord!!  This is so very exciting.  We did wire the money to Liberia this week.  It took a little longer then expected because we had to get more information from the bank.  It takes a bit more information to do an international wire.  Thankfully, God has blessed me with a very persistent husband!

Over the years, I have grown so much closer to my Heavenly Father.  I have learned so much about trust and faith in Him.  God has prepared my heart for this journey to Liberia.  If I would not have been deeply rooted in my faith, I would have given up hope and not continued this journey.  But because I have become deeply rooted in my faith, my trust in the Lord will never be dismayed!  Isn’t that beautiful?  I have something to grasp and the ability to hold onto in a solid way.

So many unbelievers say that they can not believe because they can not see what or whom they are believing in.  I tell you this, the stronger you are in your walk with Christ, the more you begin to see.  I have heard God clearly give me words.  I have seen the power of His mighty hand.  My cornerstone is His Word.  As I daily devour His Word, I open my heart to Him.  As I read and reread a passage, I begin to become an imitator of God (Ephesians5:1).

In the book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah has a prayer.  He starts this prayer by saying, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps,” (Jeremiah 10:23, NIV).  We can get side tracked so easily in this world.  So much of today’s media focuses on self and that it is all about me.  That is so far from the truth.  God did not put us here to live a self centered life.  He placed us here to walk in His light; to bring people to His kingdom NOT our own personal kingdoms.

I come to you today with words of hope.  God is moving this adoption forward.  “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you,” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV).  At times it can seem we are waiting for an eternity for things to happen, but it is only in God’s perfect timing that He will allow it to occur.  So do not be dismayed with the way things are happening in your life.  Hold onto the cornerstone, your firm foundation, and trust in the Lord!

Well, there really isn’t a bug per say in our house, but all of our kiddos are one by one going through something.  Each has had something a little different then the other.  We have had anything from high fevers for a day to belly aches for two days.  It takes a long time for a virus to work its way through our house!  We have had times when the household has been sick for a whole month!  Please pray that this one moves through quickly!!

Also a special thanks to Hannah for posing for our “Bug Shot”!!

“All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When others are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  You can be sure that the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with His comfort through Christ.” I Corinthians 1:3-5 (New Living Translation)  

God is so good!  He has led our family on a journey to Liberia.  But it has been more then just a journey to Liberia, it has been a journey in our faith.  Satan has attacked us in so many different ways through out this adoption and I am sure that he will continue to try to bring us down.  We have heard so many rumors and horror stories, that it is hard to tell what is truth and what is a lie.  Some of these rumors have had me so torn up inside and so anxious that I began to think that we would never get our boys home.  I began to have doubts in my mind and began to lose hope for the future.

I had tucked this little verse from I Corinthians away a little over a month ago.  I read and reread this passage.  I was feeling overwhelmed, but was not allowing God to comfort me.  I was losing faith in the journey that God had sent us on.  It is a good thing that God is so patient with me!!  He did not leave me hanging in my grief for long.  He placed another couple in our lives who were going through the same doubts and fears that we were having.  They were bringing home children from Liberia as well!  Dan and Angel had been going through the process much longer then we had.  They had fears and doubts, but then God finally said that the time was right for them to bring their precious little ones home.

Now this couple is in Liberia.  They are holding there precious children.  Not only that, they have had an opportunity to hold our precious boys.  Our letter was delivered along with our pictures of our family.  Angel emailed me today to tell me that one of the boys has written us a letter.  My heart is overflowing with joy!  I can’t wait to hold this precious letter in my hands!  Angel and Dan have pictures and video clips of our precious boys…our dear precious boys!  But beyond that, they now know that we exist.  It hit me this morning, my boys are thinking about me…their forever mommy.  Oh, what comfort that brings to my heart!  I have a sense of peace flowing through me that I have not had in quite some time.

I was troubled, but now I am showered with God’s comfort.  He gave us Dan and Angel to share in our troubles and then to bring comfort.  My God is so great!  I am learning what it means to have patient endurance.  God has this whole adoption in the palm of His hands.  He tells me to just be patient…to just endure a little longer.  My children are my mission field at this point in my life.  I will continue to ride on this roller coaster that God has placed us on.  But now as I ride, I won’t be gripping the bars with my knuckles white as snow.  Instead I will ride with my arms in the air knowing that God is along for this ride with us.

Laundry is none stop in this house! If I skip a day, I regret it for the next two weeks!! Here is a picture of our pool table…somewhere under all of those clothes!! I actually had already cleaned it off two times before I took this picture. It makes a great sorting table…although the kids don’t particularly agree with that!!

I was a little embarrassed today when a friend stopped by and he asked if I was getting ready for a yard sale!! My goal for the day was to get all the laundry put away…needless to say, I ran out of hours in the day! Tomorrow is an outdoor day for us, so once again, the laundry will be put on hold!

Anthony does his own laundry now, which is a tremendous help! I am going to start working with Hannah and Brandy next. Hannah still likes me to match up her outfits, but I think we can start doing that together. Brandy just wants all her pants in one drawer and all her shirts in another. That actually makes it easier on me!! I do still match up all the littles outfits. They have little cubbies hanging in their closets. Each cubby has an outfit in it. I have to put time into it, but in the long run it saves time because they always come down with matching outfits on!!

When the boys finally get home, I think I may have to add an extra washing machine!! I really feel like I am going through a “nesting” phase! I started before the girls arrived. I guess God was preparing me! I continue to nest and clean out stuff and work on getting better organized! I will probably fall completely apart by the time the boys finally do get here!! But that is ok! I am not supermom and don’t try to pretend to be. I want to spend more time with my kids then worry about a clean house……although I still get embarrassed when I have unexpected guests and my house looks like a tornado hit it!! But then that is good because it shows that I am only human!!

The other house project that we have been working on is tearing out all the carpet in the house and replacing with hardwood floors! I dislike carpet…especially when you pull it out and see all the dirt and stuff in it!! YUCK!!

Here is Russell’s truck filled with carpet from one of the kid’s rooms. Hey look how green the grass is!! We finally got some rain!

Here is one of the rooms that just got finished! Our good friend Ben Hostetter has been putting the floors down for us! This will be Austin, Jeremiah and Joel’s room. They are going to have a jungle theme!!

This is just another view of the same room.

This is a picture of the hallway without carpet. The kids have been having fun drawing pictures on the bare floors! It has been quite the ordeal rotating rooms out!

Here is Hailey, Aubrey and Carol Jean’s bedroom. There room is finished except for the curtain hanging and the princesses that are to be put on their wall. It is hard to tell in this picture, but there are two upper bunks, a full lower bed and a trundle under the full bed (the trundle is currently on the front porch because it just came in). I think it is the coolest bed!! Gives us lots of sleeping space!!

Here is a picture of Hannah and Brandy’s room. They still have carpet. There room will be the next to be done. They have the same bed the little girls have. We will get under one once it is closer to time for the boys to come home.

So I guess you can see that our weekends are quite busy!! I can’t wait until it is all done!!

I thought I would share with you some of our on going weekend projects!!  I really wish I had been on top of all of this and started taking pictures from the beginning!!

Here is Russell….Mr. Home Improvement!  He is in the process of remodeling our kitchen!  He has taken out all the old appliances and is now adding extra cabinets and counter space!

I now have two convection ovens!!  I should be able to cook up a storm now!!  The one stove has a microwave above it so we could free up some extra counter space.  My old microwave goes to my sister Monica for an early Christmas present!!

Here is a picture of the old counter top and sink….filled with dirty dishes of course!!  My sink has had a huge crack in it since we moved in.  We couldn’t do anything with it until we sold our other house.  I am so excited about my new kitchen.  I guess my hubby is going to expect gourmet meals every night!

Here is my new QUIET dishwasher!!  It is so cool.  You pour the whole thing of liquid dishwasher soap into it and it dispenses it automatically!!

Here is the front view of my new cabinets!  I am so excited about all of my new space!  Russell has measured for the new counter tops.  Not sure how long that will take to get in once it is ordered, but I can’t wait!!

Now I just need to get my cooking in order and I will be good!  I do have wonderful menus made up…I just need to follow them!  I hope to get back into my freezer cooking again!!    Hopefully, my next kitchen pictures will have beautiful new counter tops in them!

The Rutledge Family has an update on their blog.  Praise God for all that is happening over there!  We are so anxious for them to get back.  They delivered our letter and pictures yesterday to the boys!!!  I can’t wait to hear all about it and see their pictures!!  My heart is aching for them so much!!  Thanks to everyone for their continued prayers!!  Hope to have some pictures soon!