Square one.

Unfortunately, when you open your hearts, bank accounts, and life to adoption an orphan doesn't just drop in your lap.  So we fight to take her home.

But we are back at square one.  Well, not quite because we do have a completed Homestudy and dossier.  The reverse hosting program we were part of with EAC is no longer.  According to them Colombia was not cooperating and giving them the referrals (children) they had promised.  So they bagged it.  If we want to continue with Colombia it will be the traditional adoption program.  We will be waiting for sure a year for a referral and it entails one long (6-8 weeks) trip to Colombia.

So now what?  We. Don't. Know.

We are not giving up on adopting and are pursuing other avenues, agencies and maybe even Countries?  So I am asking for your prayers in asking God to make the path we are to take so obvious!  And if he drops a little girl in my lap that would be great too.

Stay tuned..........

Adoption. (Yeah, new subject on this blog! Hallelujah)

Wow, this is refreshing to have a new topic to update you all on!  God is good.

Sooooo.....yes we are adopting a little girl from Colombia!  We are waiting on a referral to find out who she is.  Our agency EAC (European Adoption Consultants) has a first trip to Colombia planned for the first week of June and is hoping to get us on that trip- we just need a referral by then.  We are waiting for Colombia to complete the children's files and send them to EAC so they can refer them to us.  The good news, our dossier is almost complete.  We have to get some documents apostilled and are waiting only on Immigration approval to complete our file.  And wow, that was a lot of paper work.

How do I share our journey to this point and not make this first update super long?  Cliff notes.  So here they go.  But first I am going to start with my journal entry back from Feb 1, 2013.

2/1/13
Still can't shake it.  It comes up every time I pray, read or spend time with God.  Every. Time.
Seems crazy.  Seems scary.  Seems faithful.  Seems like its a Christ lovers duty.  Seems like true love.
This road doesn't make sense.  Its not the way we planned to go- thats why Im certain its God.  His road/His way is always best for everyone- I don't want to ignore it.
Just read Exodus 14 when God lead the Israelites out of Egypt.  He didn't take them out on the short road through Philistine country but around through the desert toward the Red Sea- where he let them cross on dry ground!  The Israelites must have been wondering why in the world is he leading us this way?!  But God knows best- his way is best.  His plan and where and how is completely unfathomable to us.  Like parting the Red Sea- who knew?!  So just be faithful and follow Gods path Joanne.

So Tim and I, we talk about it.  talk about it.  talk about it some more.

Get scared with the reality of it.

9/2013- Hear a sermon on how excuses insult the power of God.
   When God calls us to do something, he is not asking us if we can do it.  God knows the outcome.
   Excuse #1 Im incapable.  Noah obeyed- he was mocked and insulted but obeyed and was saved.
   Excuse #2 Im inferior.  God doesn't call good people, he calls HIS people.
   Excuse #3 Im inadequate.  Dont evaluate yourself, evaluate God.

Well then. Okay, no excuses.

We decide we would like to look into any Spanish speaking country.

10/2013 But, we hear about Welcome Home Africa, an orphanage in Uganda and feel lead to them.

We decide to stop just talking and praying about it and we take a step out and contact them.

We find out that they only adopt out sibling groups- we freak and tell God that we are going to Tarshish, not Nineveh (Jonah).  I come around, Tim doesn't yet.  (And thats okay- I know if God wants this for us he will put us on the same page at the same time).

Tims Dad is put into Hospice.  We table adoption.  Just too much right now.

2/2014 Tim comes around and we contact Welcome Home Africa.  They are working with the Hague now and its longer and more complicated and it doesn't feel like a good fit.  Bethany we met with awhile ago and didn't feel like it was a good fit and we find out that because of Tims health history pretty much no one will accept us but Africa.  So we contact Adoption Associates and they have just closed their Africa program.  ugh.  So we stepped out and tried all the doors we knew of and they were all promptly closed in our faces.

So we step back.  Again :)

5/2014 Still praying and talking about it.  God is haunting us with this :)

11/3/2014  We hear the author of Love Does, Bob Goff speak at a dinner in Grand Rapids.  Love Does.  Tim and I talk after the dinner and find ourselves on the same page and fired up!  Ready to kick down some doors for the kingdom if we have to.  God has put this on our hearts, we are ready to go!  So we tell God he has got to open some doors for us! We think of how God told Abram to GO, and then showed him where.  He didn't show him where to go and then tell him to leave.  So we said God, we are going.  And we trusted him to show up.

11/10/2014 We connect with EAC and are sending a short portfolio and a Doctors note to them to get to Colombia to see if they would accept us in their new Colombian hosting program.  The doctors come through, quickly get us the notes we need.  Colombia said they would accept us!  WHOA.

11/28/2014 Sitting around the pool in Florida, we sign and fax in the contract with deposit.
HERE WE GO.

And here we are.  That was major cliff notes but I think it gives you a little picture of how God has been working on us the last few years.  Todays Jesus calling says, "You are on the path of MY choosing.  There is no randomness about your life".  True that.  And Gods timing is perfect also.  So we wait for his perfect time but still fight for our little girl sitting in the Colombian orphanage, waiting for someone to love her as their own.


We would love prayers for:
That God would move papers through quickly in Colombia and we get our referral!
Patience and peace while we wait.
That our little girl would sense the hope that someone is coming for her!
That God would continue to prepare our hearts for her.  Tim, mine, and the kids!


God is good, but we could not do this without all your love and support.  You guys are awesome!
Hopefully the next update will be that we received our referral!

Love to you all!
Joa (&Tim)

PS
Here is a link to a video our agency posted on their Colombian program.  Its insightful.

Colombian Adoption






 

Remission!

Remission! I have been waiting to hear that word for 8 months now and I heard it come out of my Doctors mouth yesterday! That's right, I am in remission.

I finished up the chemo in mid August and have spent the last 2 months praying for remission but not allowing myself to get my hopes up too high as the last 7 years and especially the last 8 months have been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Joa as usual has been a rock for me as I seem to bounce between calm and total panic depending on the minute. I know that God calls us to live for today and not worry about tomorrow but I have really struggled with this over the last 2-3 months.

I have had a tremendous amount of support both emotional a physically over the last 6 months. There is no way to mention everyone but Joe Lampen raised a ton of money and ran the relay for life in support of his cousin and me. Donna Messinna ran the Chicago Marathon for the LLS in honor of Me and Kara Kontos who has also had some long struggles with blood and other types of cancers. Ryan Cook and the rest of my friend who turned the Wedding Dress Party in to a fund raiser (see the Wedding Dress Party post for details on that one)! My friends have constantly called and checked up on me, neighbors have made dinners and others have let me use their cottage for a place of relaxation and rest. Countless people have been faithfully praying. My mother is also a rock and has been a relentless prayer warrior for me.

I have also been researching some holistic methods of treatment as my Doctors tell me that this disease will be back. I have visited 3 holistic Doctors and I will have my final recommendation next week. Although all of the Doctors have different ideas of how to treat this one this is for sure. My immune system is and has been severely compromised and it seems that there are a lot of things that I can do to clean it up and boost it's performance, therefore hopefully holding this cancer at bay longer and maybe forever. I will keep you all posted on that once I choose a Doctor and start the therapy.

The last week or two have been great as I have had some time to unwind with the fam and go on a 3 day mountain biking trip up north with the boys (this is our version of deer camp, picture posted below after our Iceman pre-ride and a misc night ride pic).

Back to the Remission thing. I after 6 months of Chemo and 2 months off I had a PET scan to to re stage the cancer and see how the Chemo therapy had worked. My Doctor was quite confident but I have been on some drugs that are for Non-Hodgkins and I have Hodgkins so no one knew for sure if it would work. There is one that is for sure in the world of cancer and that is nothing is for sure. Anyways I was preparing myself for him to say that we got most of it but not all of it and that I would need more treatment either now of in the near future. However my scan was crystal clear and I am in remission. I am still in shock but I'm coming around and ready to move on.

Thank you all for your prayers and support. We are truly blessed.

Tim and Joa

Celebrating

Hi friends.

Join us in celebrating Tim finishing his six rounds of chemo! Ah, deep breath and a praise to Jesus for getting Tim through it. He has a scan in the beginning of October and we will have results mid October. Please join us in praying that the scan is CLEAR!

We have learned over and over again how quickly things change. So what we are doing now is celebrating what we know to be true now; that chemo treatments are done and the cancer should be gone.

In our gladness of no more treatments we are also hit with the reality of living with this cancer that is known for coming back. In some respects it is easier to be fighting it with chemo rather than just living and waiting for it to rear its ugly head again. It does however bless us by giving us the daily reminder to slay our dragons of fear and surrender daily to our Lord, Jesus.

In addition to surrendering everything to the Lord we also believe he has given us a responsibility to take care of the bodies he has created us with. The Lord has designed our bodies perfectly, and we want Tims as healthy as possible so it has the strength to fight this disease. That is why we have started to look into holistic/natural approaches to cancer also.

So, please celebrate with us, congratulate Tim if you see him, and please continue to pray for him! We will update you when we know results of the PET scan.

Below are a few thoughts that have really blessed me today. Hopefully they will bless you too.

~When one loves God with the entire soul, doubts and struggles do not disappear but their effect on us diminishes. -Philip Yancy

~For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. -Peter in 2 Cor 4:17

~Gods faithfulness can never falter, and that through the labyrinth of history and the disorder of personal lives there runs the constant thread of Gods purpose. -Philip Yancy

~I know not which is most profitable to me, health or sickness, wealth or poverty, nor anything else in the world. That discernment is beyond the power of men or angels, and is hidden among the secrets of your Providence, which I adore, but do not seek to fathom. -Pascal

two more chemo cocktails for Timmy

Just met with the Doc. Tim is getting two more rounds with the same drugs but one will have reduced dosage. They want to push for the best result with the least amount of damage to his bone marrow. That needs to stay strong for future chemo when this ugly beast rears its head again in the future.

Tims counts were close enough to normal this morning to receive round five. In August he will have his last treatment. We look very forward to being done and love being able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. At least for awhile.

That is the update for now, but we have learned it always seems to change. So we are becoming more flexible in what the future holds. We are focusing on living for today and getting up the next morning and doing it again. After all, this is the DAY the Lord has made. It doesnt say month :).

Thanks for all the prayers, keep em coming!

Love to all

Tim and Joa

So so late. So so sorry.

To our faithful friends and prayer warriors,

I am sorry we never ended up posting an update after Tims last treatment. The month has passed by so quickly!

Round 4:

Last month we found out that Tims CT scan showed definite improvement and the spots were shrinking as expected. They said at that time that he would likely have one or two more rounds to shrink the spots on his spleen further as that takes longer to react to the treatments. It did take him longer to bounce back after this treatment. He just feels pretty off and has 'chemo brain' well into the following week. But usually a week later he is back to himself.

Round 5:

We went in this morning fully expecting to get round five done with and having only one more to go. Because of Tims rare case of Hodgkins its not clear EXACTLY how to treat it and how many rounds he should have. This morning we found out that because Tim is bouncing back slower they are not sure they want to push to six treatments. Now they are talking that they might stop at four - which would mean he would be done with treatments. So he did not have a treatment this morning. And as it turns out when his blood counts came back, his count was too low to have treatment so he could not have received it anyway.

So the doctors are talking, we are praying and waiting to hear. If he does have more rounds, round five will likely be next week once his blood counts are up.

We will post once we hear what the plan of action is. But for now, please just pray with us that the Lord gives the Doctors wisdom on how to treat Tim.

Thanks friends!

Tim & Joa

#3

Well we had another long day at the Chemo clinic but I am doing quite well tonight compared to my last two treatments. I have a quick two hour infusion tomorrow and then Round #3 is done. I will be having a scan in a few weeks to check for progress. If the scan looks good we will do 2 more rounds for a total of five treatments.

Thanks,

Tim and Joa