Holding down the fort again

My husband Marcus  is in Asia for 3 weeks. He has been in Hong Kong, and now he is in Tawain. He is with a OneThing team leading worship and speaking. He and Tim have recently recorded their latest cd in Mandarin Chinese and for the weeks leading up to this trip Marcus practiced Mandarin a good 2-3 hours a day so that he could lead worship in Chinese. I know that I am his wife and I always think he is incredible, but I really think that its incredible, to see him up close and the way he pours out his life for the Word of the Lord to go forth. 

I am here at home, holding down the fort, and I have had some hard days in which I feel so alone in the work that I do, but then I remember that my part here is just as important as what he is doing on the other side of the world. The Lord has given me much strength. He is my strength and my song.

This is only the begining

 Marcus and I feel such a tremendous sense of destiny as we launch into this adoption.  We have felt the Lord confirming over and over again that adoption is His plan for us. I am so excited! I wish I could describe how right it feels. I feel as though I was made to do this. Marcus has kept saying over and over, "we are only at the begining"  We both feel as though we could have quite a large family by the end of this all. Who knows? I am only 27, I could keep adopting for years and years to come. I know I might seem crazy, and I sometimes feel crazy, for thinking that I can do it. But I have been reminded that nothing, nothing, can be done by our own strength and might alone. I can not be the perfect mother to 10+ kids, I will in my falleness mess them up. But in the Lord's strength, and by His grace, He will supply all that I need for life and godliness. And then this verse, which I have quoted many many times, is just a favorite of mine, 2Cor. 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having suffiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work. 

So when you think about the Meier family, just pray that the Lord's grace would abound towards us as we head down this road. Although we are confident and excited, and feel a sense of destiny, the enemy is there, trying to bring discouragement. But, its ok, we know he is a liar!

I am turning it all in!

As soon as the kids wake up from naps we are off to the Post Office to mail our family booklet aka, the dossier! I am so glad to be done with it all, but I have to say that it wasn't that hard to do. I mean I realize that it has probably taken me longer to get everything together and done than anybody else on the planet! With my 4 young children, I have had to work in the evenings after they are all in bed, and I have really gone at my own pace. I have not gone running for the last 2 months, also a little adoption sacrifice, and there have been several times that I have not been able to go out and do some fun things. I am only mentioning those things not to pat myself on the back, but to say really that if I can do it, anyone can!

Now, I am just praying that all the paperwork will sail through without a glitch, and make its way to Ethiopia! I will keep you posted!

You are not going to believe this!

God has just done something so amazing that only He can do! 

Marcus and I have been on our knees these past several weeks in prayer over this adoption and asking for the money that we need. As you know we are in the process of adopting 2 little ones from Ethiopia. 1 boy and 1 girl, each under 12 months old.  We need $30,000 to do this, plus we are going to need a bigger vehicle. 

Here is what the Lord has just provided for us.....$23,000!!!!

There are no words to describe the joy and thankfulness in my heart to the Lord for giving us this money for this adoption! He has confirmed  to us beyond a shadow of doubt that this is His heart, and that He is for us! In A moment He has given us an amazing testimony of His absolute extravegance! Of His absolute provision, and His absolute commitment to the orphans of the earth!

Its for real! We are really going to adopt! He has made a way!

So if you are wondering, if you should adopt, and if you are wondering about money, let our story encourage you. God will make a way to put the orphans in homes! Go for it! Take the risk and believe that God is good, and that He will do all that He says He will!

Happy Father's Day!

 It is a tradition in our home to transcribe the words of our children for special occasions. 

Here is what my kids have to say about their father for Father's Day:

Isaiah says, "I love that you are handsome, and that you are like God, and that you are like a twinkling star."       (I love it!)

Zion says,  "I love you because you love me and I love you. I love your eyes and your curly hair. I love that you love mom."  ( they seem to be loving the physical attributes this time around)

Rees has been very sick with the stomach bug, and didn't really comment except to say,

"I love your hair, eyeballs, and mouth"  (again with the physical attributes)

so then I asked them "Why is your dad the best dad?"

and Isaiah summed it all up when he said right away without batting an eye,

"Because He believes in God and he loves us very much!"

Isn't that awesome! I just love the random sincere things kids say! 

Here is what I want to say 

Marcus, 

You are the most amazing dad! You love and care for our children so very well. You are everything a dad should be, fun, joyful, kind, tickling, wrestling, steadfast, leader, godly, listener, encourager, reward er, and on and on. The thing that is striking my heart about you right now has been your faithfulness in our family devotions. You never lose your excitement to do it, and you make us all excited to do it as well. There are those days when I am a "Martha" and can only think of the things I need to get done, but you gently remind me that "this"  is the most important thing, sowing the Word of God into our children's hearts and minds. And by the grace of God, we are doing it. You are making disciples in the earth.  And I so look forward to the day when we have two more smiling faces sitting in our living room for our devotions, because I know that our Ethiopian children our going to love you so much and will be blessed forever because they have a dad like you. 

You are an amazing Father, Marcus. Thank you so much! 

Rachel

The pace of life

Here is what we are up to,

Tomorrow Marcus and I have our last home study interview. It is a 2-3 hour couples interview in which I suppose we will be asked a million questions about our marriage and our parenting.

Next Friday is our home visit. Our social worker will come to our home and verify that its a suitable place for a family. I am trying not to stress about my home looking perfect, but I am thinking about everything I want to clean, and I have a room I want to paint as well. 

I am planning our adoption benefit dinner for June 28th. It will be at a wonderful local restruarnt and will be a lot of fun.

Our application has been turned into the agency. We have requested 1 boy, and  1 girl, ranging from 3-18 months. This is variable of course, nothing is set in stone when there are babies that need homes. I might get 2 boys or I might get 2 girls. We will see. I am still waiting to get the official approval from them but now I am starting to assemble all of the paperwork needed for phase 2.

I have a personal goal to complete phase 2 (the dossier) and have it turned in by July 1. Once I get it all turned in and it is reviewed, translated and sent to Ethiopia (which takes about another month) then our waiting time will be about 8-10 months. So right now a lot is up to me as to how fast I can get everything done. AHH! Then comes the waiting process. 

Vitals

I am holding down the fort right now because my husband is in Bogota Columbia! There is a House of Prayer starting there and he and Dwayne Roberts are doing some teaching and training. I am thrilled to see this happen in Colombia! I can only imagine how pleased the Lord must be to see a group of people want worship and prayer to be continually offered to His name. I often think of how much the Lord highly favored and blessed King David because of this same desire. I want to see incense arise in every place. He is worthy!

I am imaginging myself the missionary wife and my husband out on a courageous adventure! Colombia is still labled a "hostile" country to Christianity so I am not being too dramatic, but, probably I am.