Responding In Faith

It’s Christmas morning.  I laid in bed for what seemed like hours this morning.  I don’t know who is more excited about Christmas morning…Mommy or the kids!  I lay waiting in anticipation of hearing little feet pitter pattering around the floors this morning.  I tried to “pretend” to be sleeping as each one peeked in to see if mommy and daddy were awake yet.  One child would peek in, then that child would go awake another one; then two would peek in.  This continued until we had all seven in the room poking and whispering, “Mommy!  Daddy!  Are you awake yet?”  Then at just the right morning I jump up in the bed and yell “Merry Christmas!” and we all race down the stairs.

Christmas morning is such an exciting time in our house!  Each child receives three gifts….3×7=21 presents!  That is quite the sight on Christmas morning!  We have come up with a system, each child gets a certain wrapping paper.  It makes it easier for passing out the presents!  Each child waits in anticipation while Anthony passes out the presents.  Some wait until they have all their gifts in front of them.  Others tear them open right away.  Russell sits in the big, red chair with all the necessary “tools” in hand to help get the toys out of their cardboard box prisons!  I have the camera aimed and ready for all the surprised faces!

As all the presents are opened, the children settle down and really dig into their gifts, calling for daddy to help put things together.  The excitement of Christmas morning is over.  All the anticipation is gone.  Life begins to turn back to normal as someone mentions that they are hungry.  I must prepare the “monkey bread” and the breakfast casserole.

As I am pulling breakfast together, I wonder how Mary felt the day she birthed Jesus?  She must have been anticipating Jesus’ birth.  I can’t even imagine what her thoughts were.  This is what I would have been thinking:  “I am about to give birth to the Son of God?  Why me?  I feel so unworthy.  But yet I am so excited.  What will this child look like?  Will He be like other children?  How will I know if I am being the mother I am supposed to be?  Do I need to over protect Him?  What will become of my Son?…..”  I imagine that the anticipation did not end after Jesus’ birth.  I imagine that each day was filled with anticipation, wondering what would become of her Son.  The anticipation probably continued right up to His death upon the cross….wondering if this truly was the end of her Son, the Son she shared with God.  And then to see Him raise from the dead, only to walk the earth again for a short period of time before arising to the heavens!  It must have been difficult to be Mary.  But I am sure that God gave her great strength to endure it all.  He gave her strength to walk in faith each day.

My thoughts come back to present time.  I await the arrival of my Liberian sons with great anticipation.  I know that anticipation won’t disappear with them either.  Every day is going to be like Christmas to them.  So many new things to learn about. A new culture…new family…new life.  So many “firsts” in their lives!  Do you remember that “Hunts” ketchup ad?  “Anticipation…Anticipation…”  Waiting for the good stuff to come and it would be so worth it!  Well, I’m waiting with anticipation for our boys and I know it will be so worth it!

Today brings much good news!  I spoke with Seide in Liberia today.  The boys’ embassy interview went very well.  The boys have qualified for orphan status per US terms!  Russ and Anthony will be traveling the last week in January to bring Samuel, Jeremiah and Joel home.  We will have to wait a bit longer for Daniel as his process is just getting started.

We are so excited!  So much to be done!  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to work to pull together the last of our funding!  ($3750)  Please pray for our family as we work through this last month of our journey and prepare for  a new journey with our boys here in America!  I am overflowing with joy and anticipation!  Kind of like Christmas morning for a child!

God has orchestrated this whole thing and as I sit and ponder on the entire journey, I sit in utter amazement! God is so good.  He walked with us the whole way.  There were times where I felt alone and scared, but now I can look back and see that God was right there with me!  Walking and responding in faith can be a difficult journey, but if I persist and continue to take the road less traveled, I begin to see more and more of God with each step.  I experience more of the joy that God intends for me to have.  Worldly things don’t please me like they used to.  The journey with my Lord pleases me so much more!  I hunger to be close to Him and in His presence.

This journey has been especially difficult not just because of the ups and downs of the actual adoption, but because of obstacles outside of the adoption.  Voices around our family telling us that we are doing the wrong thing.  I have stated this before and will state it again, the road that God leads each of us on is a personal journey.  A journey that others may not understand.  Being obedient to God often takes a person against the grain.  Doesn’t the word tell us that we are to be the salt of the earth?  I know I sure can be salty at times, but I enjoy adding a little spice to life!  The world would be very bland if we chose to be like others!  I have become even more deeply rooted in my spiritual journey on this latest faith journey.  I wonder what God will have in store for us next!  Only time will tell……..

We received great news yesterday from our dear friend Angel.  Angel spoke with Siede in Liberia.  Siede was at the Embassy yesterday for another family’s adoption and was supposed to be setting up an appointment for our boy’s case for this Thursday!  PLEASE!  PLEASE! PLEASE! BE ON YOUR KNEES IN PRAYER!  Please pray that this interview will go well.  It is my understanding that the consular will review the boys’ case and determine whether or not they meet the US “orphan status”.  Once the consular has determined that the boys meet the US requirements for “orphan status”, then we will have the ok for travel!  At that point we will need to contact Marie (the lady who is donating our airplane tickets) to order our tickets.  I believe it will take her 30 days to get our tickets.

I feel like I am in my last month of pregnancy!  So much to get done before the boys  get here!  We still have some bedroom switching around to do; rooms to be painted; paper work to complete; shots to receive; visas to apply for; doctor appointments to go to; money to raise….my list could go on and on.  A person could begin to feel a little overwelmed!   But these are just small things.  My heart is filled with so much joy at this point.  Actually, I am feeling quite ecstatic!  It has been 9 months since we sent our dossier over to Liberia.  About 12 months since the boys were born into my heart!  Now their birth into our family is about to begin!  I am on pins and needles!

Next month we will have our travel expenses pulled together as we have paid off a debt that has been hanging over our heads (school loan!)!  The money that we were using to pay that off will be freed up for our travel expenses.  We still are lacking $3750 for the final payment for the boys’ legal fees.  I know that God will provide.  This entire process has been a huge walk of faith for myself and my family.  God has laid on my heart time and again that the money will be there.  I must continue to trust in my Lord and know that He will provide.  If everything continues to move in the direction that it is, we will probably have travel dates towards the end of January!

The neat thing about the boys’ interview being on Thursday is that we are also meeting with our adoption attorney on Thursday to sign our adoption petitions for Brandy and Carol Jean!  I think that is so neat!  Isn’t it amazing how God orchestrated all of this together?  He is the Great Designer! He knit this whole thing together long before I was ever born.  It has been  His intention for this to happen all along.  What a wonderful gift to be given to our family right before Christmas.  Our children both on the US side and in Liberia will be becoming finalized for the courts stamp of approval on the same day!  What joy this brings my heart!

My heavenly Father loves me so much and He daily shows me through His actions how much He does!  He doesn’t have to do that, but He chooses to do so.  I give my thanks unto my Lord.  It doesn’t seem enough, for He is so great!  I seem so unworthy of all He has done for me and my family.

Psalm 118 reminds me to give thanks!

1: Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever…
27-29:  The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.  With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.  You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  (NIV)

His light has shined upon me!  He has been the light in the darkest of times during this journey to Liberia.  I cannot help but to proclaim His Glory and faithfulness to our family during this entire process.  He is so good.  I exalt His holy name.

I hope that you, too, can find time to thank God for all He has done in your life.  This time of year can be so chaotic with the hustle and bustle, that I think we can so often forget to see the joy in the world.  We forget to see what we have been blessed with.  We become consumed with the “wants” during this festive time of year.  God gave us the ultimate gift…His Son!  His one and only Son!  That is where our joy should come from.  That is what we should be thankful for!  Take time out today to see the joy that this season should bring!  Thank God for His ultimate gift…a gift of love and sacrifice!

Liberian Christmas Story

I wanted to share this Liberian Christmas story. I copied it off my friend’s site…whom she copied off another friend’s site! Too good not to share! (I hope that was ok Danielle!!)  Read it out loud as it is in Liberian English.

“Every Man Heart Lay Down”

Long time past - before your father live - before his father live
Before his father’s father live - long time past
Before them big tree live - before them big tree’s father live
That time God live.

And God look on the world - that He done make
And Him heart no lay down.
And He walk about in the town to see the people.
And He sit down in the palaver house to know the people.
And He sorry too much.
And God say “The people no hear My Word.
The people no walk My way. Nev mind.
All I can do is make a new country - and make new people.”
And this time God’s one small boy - Him small child
Hear God’s Word, And the child grieve for people and for His Pa.
So he go for God’s face and make talk for His Pa.
“Pa, I come for beg you,” so He say,
“I come for beg you; Don’t make the new world.
Don’t lose the people what you done care for. I beg you.
Make it I go, I talk to people. I walk with people. Bye-m-bye
They savvy the way.”

And the child go down softly softly and hold God’s foot. (i.e.
begged Him)
So God look on Him small boy. And Him heart be very soft. And God
say,
Left me now, but hear me good; If you go you must be born like a man
You must live like a man - and you must have hurt and have hunger.
And hear me good; men will hate you and they will flog you, and
Bye-m-bye they will kill you, and I no going put my hand there.”
(i.e. interfere)
And the Child say, “I agree.”
And bye-m-bye God call Mary to be Ma for the child.
Now Mary be new wife for Joseph and Joseph ain’t touch Mary self.
So first time Joseph vex. But God say, ‘Nev min’, Joseph; this be
God palaver.
And Joseph heart lay down.

And God see one king who try for do good for all him people.
“Ahah, now I send my Son for be new king.”
And God send star to call the king.
And in a far country, God hear a wise man call his name.
And God say to the wise man, “I send my Son to be new wise man;
Go now with the star.” And the star call. And the wise men follow.

And by the waterside - men lay down to take rest.
And they hear fine music in the sky like all the stars make song,
And they fear. And all the dark make bright like day.
And the water shine like fire. And no man can savvy.
And they hearts turn over. But God’s angel come,
And God’s angel say, “Make glad, all people,
God’s child be born in Bethlehem.”
And the star come low and stop. But when they go for mansion house
The star no be there. And when they go for big man’s house,
The star no be there. And bye-m-bye when they go for hotel,
The star no be there gain - “Ahah, the star be by the small house
Where cattle sleep! ” And it was so.

And they found Joseph and Mary and the small child fold up in
country cloth.
And the king bring gold for gift
And the wise man bring fine oil
And the country people bring new rice.
And they look on the God child
And every man heart lay down.

Today is Joel’s 6th birthday!!  We are so happy because we were able to call him today and sing Happy Birthday.  I think they thought we were funny because they couldn’t stop laughing!!  They couldn’t figure out how we knew it was his birthday.  Any way, Mama Roselina said she would give him a big birthday kiss for us!  Thank you Mama Roselina!

The boys all sounded good.  Joel and Samuel sang to us this time!  Such sweet voices.  They brought tears of joy to my heart!  We told them that Daddy and Anthony would be over at the end of January.  They are so excited.  I think they were hoping to be with us by Christmas.  I heard a hint of disappointment in their voices.  I know that it will be difficult for Daniel to be without his “brothers”, but I know God will watch over him.

Today we wired the $2500 over to Liberia so that we could get Daniel’s adoption process started.  Oh, how I wish he could come home with the other three!  My heart aches for them so much.  I actually had a dream that I was in Liberia to pick up our boys.  I kept running into obstacles in getting to them.  But it wasn’t the boys I was having a hard time getting to, it was a little girl named Joy.  Not sure what that means!  I am not even going to Liberia.  I have some strange dreams sometimes!

It is so nice to hear their voices and look at their pictures.  I can now see their sweet personalities coming out.  Daniel told me over and over again how much he loved me.  Samuel even told me that he thought I was pretty.  What mom doesn’t love to hear that?!  Our phone conversation was for about 30 minutes.  The boys had to get off the phone so that they could go to evening prayer.  That does my heart good to know that they are hearing the Word, living the Word and praying the Word!  That encourages me so much with my walk with Christ!

If you think about it this day, send up a birthday prayer for our precious Joel!  Thanks!  Happy Birthday Sweetie!  Momma loves you!

Schweighardt family grows in love!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Please click on the above link to see our story!  We have word that if everything keeps moving in the direction that it is, then Russ and Anthony will be traveling to Liberia by the end of January!  Please stay posted and I will be putting a longer post with more info.  All my prayer warriors, please pray that the boy’s final investigation gets turned in this week so it can be sent to the US Embassy.  Depending on how many other families are ahead of us will determine when there case is seen at the Embassy to determine if the qualify for the US’s “true orphan” status.  Pray!  Pray!  Pray!

We will be sending the first $2500 in for Daniel tomorrow.  We were able to pull part of together along with what was donated.  Please continue to pray for us as we continue to pull together funding for both adoptions!

We took the big plunge! We are saying goodbye to our Big Red Car! That is the name of our Ford Excursion. We are putting her up for sale. Our theme song has been “Big Red Car” by the Wiggles. Every time we get in the car, Carol Jean yells, “Play Big Red Car, Mommy!” So we turn on the Wiggles and start singing….Toot, Toot, Chugga, Chugga, Big red car; We’ll travel here and we’ll travel far…………

Our goodbyes to “Big Red” have not caused too much mourning in our house! The kids are so excited that we have upgraded to a turtle top bus! Now some folks may not like the idea of riding around in a bus, but not this family! Before the bus even arrived, the kids had diagrams printed off and were putting bids in for the seat that they wanted to claim! It is great. We have room to breathe and stretch our arms!

This new vehicle was engulfed in a lot of prayer and research and then more prayer by my dear husband. I was the bouncing board. Russ did the research, explained all the technical stuff about the vehicle, researched the safety issues and then went on his “bus hunt”. Russ finally found one at a little dealership up in Illinois. The family drove as far as Louisville, KY and the kids and I stayed with my sister, Monica. Russ and his dad drove on up to Illinois to pick up the vehicle.

As Russ and the dealer (I believe his name was Mike) “toured” the bus, they plopped down in the back of the bus and shared their stories of their Christian walks. Mike was intrigued with our adoption journey, so Russ shared. Russ said it was such a blessing to meet this man. Mike didn’t have to, but he chose to give us new tires for our vehicle and new wipers! That was such a wonderful gift. During that time, our bank had called and informed Russ of the value of the vehicle. Again, for the price that we bought it for and the condition of the vehicle, we got a very good deal!

God is watching over us and providing us with the things we need for our ever growing family. I just love that! Its not always easy being obedient. In fact, most of the time it can be very difficult. But when we choose to walk in obedience, God will choose to bless us. That doesn’t mean that we will gain riches and fame (which I wouldn’t want either of!), but He will bless us with our daily needs and sometimes throw in a few of those wants!! For our kids, the bus is the greatest thing since sliced bread! We are able to share with our children how God does provide for us and how He cares about the little things in our lives. For us, we were able to find a great bus, but more importantly, Russ was able to share our story with someone who truly was amazed to see how God has worked in our lives. That is a big part of the journey that we are on!

So round and round we go singing The Wheels on the Bus! Our adoption adventure continues to move forward and we continue to respond in faith!

Yesterday was such a busy day!  It started out with the Women’s Christmas Tea at church and then straight to basketball practice for Anthony.  After that we headed to Charlotte to meet Pastor Kofi and his wife along with many other families who have adopted from Liberia.  It was such a great evening!  I am so glad we went.  There were so many Liberian children mixed in with their American siblings.  I don’t think I ever really got it figured out which children belonged to which parents!  All I knew was that the children out numbered the adults…by a lot!

Scott and Denise were the couple who graciously opened up their home for the Christmas Open House to honor pastor Kofi and his wife.  When I initially received the invitation to attend, I thought surely they really didn’t want us, maybe they were just being nice.  So I emailed Denise back and explained that we have seven children and that we would have to bring them with us.  If she didn’t want them to come, I fully understood.  Many people are intimidated by the size of our family.  She emailed me right back and told me that they had six children and would love for us to bring ours!

I think both Russ and I were a little apprehensive about going, but we both felt pulled to go.  We weren’t sure we would “fit in” and really didn’t know what to expect.  As soon as we walked in, we received a wonderful welcome!  One of the first comments we received was, “This is probably one of the few places you will go and all the families will have bus envy!”  I knew I was going to get along just fine with these people!

All the kids ran around and played and the adults talked and talked.  It was great meeting Pastor Kofi.  What a great man with such a heart for the Lord.  He went around and spoke to all the Liberian children catching up with them and finding out about their lives.  Some of the children that were present were some of the original children that were in the boy’s choir that was traveling around several years ago and had appeared on the Opera Show.

We enjoyed all the families so much.  The thing that amazed me was that there were so many with large families!!  I met, very briefly, a woman named Daryl who I believe has adopted 11 or 12 Liberians.  She has 17 children total.  I believe someone said she had recently retired from being a CEO of a big company.  Wow!  I would love to talk with her again!!  We met another family who had 7 children, Heather and Bill.  One of their Liberian jewels was adopted through a disruption and has done very well.  So many fascinating people!

It truly did my heart good to meet all of these amazing families and especially all the amazing children, both black and white.  It made me even more excited about getting our boys home!  There was so much support in that one house to last me a life time!  At one point in the evening, my precious Hannah ran up to me and said, “Mommy, meeting all of these children has made me home sick for my brothers!  I can’t wait for them to get here!”  Oh, Hannah hit the nail right on the head!  This wonderful day made me home sick for the boys, too!

My kiddos made some wonderful new friends as well as Russ and I.  I asked Russ on the way home if it was good speaking to other adoptive fathers.  His comment was that it was just good to speak with other fathers of large families.  That was really huge for him and for me.  Russ said that they were all so down to earth.  They didn’t look at him like he was weird for having a large family.  So many times we run into people and they seem so intimidated by the “largeness” of our family.  These families lived similar lives.  We really felt like we could just put our guard down!  I enjoyed sharing large family struggles and trying to find methods to our madness!  It was great fun!

Thanks so much Denise and Scott for opening up your home to all of us!  It was so great getting connected with other Liberian families, but not just that, other large families who love the idea of a bus!  We have made some great life long friends!  I look forward to staying connected!

I know this blog must be so confusing!!  We are in the process of three different sets of adoptions!!  Our first adoption that is in progress is for our three beautiful boys in Liberia, Samuel, Jeremiah and Joel.  Our second adoption in progress is on the American side with Brandy and Carol Jean.  Our third adoption that is just getting started is for our handsome son Daniel.  Daniel is Samuel, Jeremiah and Joel’s uncle.  He is actually the same age as Samuel.  So with all that explained, I’ll go into our exciting news!!!

We had court on Monday for Brandy and Carol Jean.  The girl’s birth mother signed her relinquishments for both girls.  Carol Jean’s birth father had signed his relinquishment several weeks ago.  No one knows where Brandy’s birth father is, so a TPR (termination of parental rights) has been filed on him.  We can now file for Carol Jean’s adoption next week, but will have to wait until the end of the month to file for Brandy’s.

It was really special to receive the relinquishments on the girls.  I hadn’t really thought about it until after a dear friend pointed it our to me.  God gave us a very special gift.  Both of the birth parents signed their relinquishments, but they didn’t just sign them.  They both had their attorneys write up the relinquishment forms and stated that they would ONLY relinquish to Russell and Sonya Schweighardt.  No one else, but Russell and Sonya Schweighardt.  They chose us in the sense that they met us, trusted us with their children, and were willing to give up all their parental rights only to us.  They didn’t have to do that.  It could have gone on for months and months.  They could have waited and had TPR’s drawn up and then appealed them for 18 months.  But they did not.

God gave us this special gift because we were faithful to the calling He asked of us.  We trusted and believed.  Sometimes we were in the dark.  There were times when we felt a lot of spiritual warfare going on and Satan was pulling us down.  But God is bigger then Satan!  Amen!  God made it happen the way He had intended for it to happen.  And to top it all off, He sugar coated it for me by letting me know that the girls were only to be relinquished to us!  How awesome is that?!

The Webster’s 1828 dictionary gives the following definition for relinquishment: the renouncing a claim to.  The birth parents renounced their claim to their girls for they knew they were giving them a wonderful gift.  I have spoken with Carol Jean’s birth father many times.  He was so excited about Carol Jean living with us.  At one particular visit, I could tell that he was hurting inside.  I placed my hand on his shoulder and told him that I would give her the best of everything.  He looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “I know you will.  That is why I will only give her to you.”  This man truly loves his daughter, but he knew he couldn’t take care of her.  So he stepped back and renounced his claim to her.

How many times has God asked us to do that, renounce our claim to something here on earth?  So many people fight addictions, have control issues, have too deep of attachments to earthly possessions; I could go on and on.  Through all of that, God whispers quietly to our hearts and says, “Hey!  Why don’t you just let go?  Renounce your claim to your addiction or your control issues.  Allow Me to be the center of your life!  I am just waiting for you.  I knock on your heart.  Will you let me in?”

For me, I have had many things that I have had to relinquish over this past year and just let God lead the way.  It is not an easy thing to do, just as it was not easy for the girls’ birth parents to relinquish.  But in the long run, I believe they knew that was what was best.  I know they will mourn their loss and their hearts will ache, but if they can quiet themselves and listen, God will be seeking them out.  Are you allowing God to seek you out?  Are you ready to relinquish to God?  He is just waiting for you to answer the door!

Well, we did not get Daniel’s adoption money wired in this week.  Basically, the reason being is that we don’t have it all together yet.  We are basically $1013.30 short of the initial $2500 that we need to send in to get Daniel’s adoption started.  We have sent in the necessary paperwork, now they just need the money so that they can get started!  Our goal is to get the money wired over by the end of next week.  Please pray with us as we continue to trust in our Lord to provide for this adoption!  We will also need to pull together the second half of the fees, which we will have more time to do, along with airline and travel expenses.
We are still also working on the last portion that we will need to pay when we go to Liberia to pick up Samuel, Jeremiah and Joel which is $3750.  I know that God will provide this.  We probably have a month to a month in a half to get this funding together.  We will also need to come up with travel expense monies, which we are still trying to figure out the total costs for those. We still need to get another bunk bed set for the boys’ room (that room will sleep 3…Austin, Jeremiah and Joel), but not too worried about that at this moment.

When I look at all the numbers, it still seems like we have such a long way to go.  But I am an optimist!  I see the glass as being half full and not half empty.  We are so dependent upon the Lord through out this whole adventure.  We are right where God wants us to be.  We have had some expenses come up that we weren’t expecting that has put us on hold in other areas of our life, and that is ok.  I know that God will provide for all that we are doing.  He is faithful to His word.

When I look at how far we have come in this entire process and remember the sweet words that God quietly whispered to me in the beginning, I feel a sense of calmness.  I have to admit that I haven’t been down on my knees praying like I had been for the funding.  I think I had gotten into a bit of a slump.  But I am pulling back together and am ready to pray full force!  Please join me in my prayers!  These are specific things we need prayers for:

1.  That God will put a protective hedge around our boys and keep them safe physically and spiritually.  2.  That God will continue to provide the funding for this adoption.  3.  That God will be given all the glory in this entire adoption process!  4.  That through this adoption, lives will be changed and inspired in the direction of adopting waiting and orphaned children. 5.  Pray that we will have a travel date soon!

Russell and Anthony went and got their first series of shots for the trip.  They had the yellow fever shot, hepatitis and Russ had to get a booster on his tetanus.  They are going to order their mosquito netting and mosquito spray with deet as well.  The Rutledge family has been such a blessing in telling us how to prepare!  We have a rather lengthy list of things to take and have prepared.  I feel like I did at the end of my pregnancies!  I am so excited to finally hold my boys in my arms.  I am so excited to finally look into their eyes and study their faces!  So much to get done.  We are just waiting in anticipation for a travel date!  That would be the best Christmas present ever!!