Jane Austen

I am a huge Jane Austen fan. I love her books and the movies that have been done about her books. I'm not sure I can say which one is my all time favorite. But my top three are Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Emma. I found this quiz and thought it would be fun to see what Heroine I am. Take it to see which one you are.

Take the Quiz here!

My Heart is Aching

Next month will be our two year anniversary of being logged in to the China Adoption system. Every month they seem to match less days than the month before. This month they only matched 5 days. They have only made it through Jan. 9th of 2006. If China continues at this rate we will not receive a referral until Oct. of 2010. We started this process in August of 2005. So by the time we get a referral the entire process will have taken 5 years. When we started it was only suppose to take 12 months. Needless to say Darrell and I are so frustrated and sad. We so badly want to be parents. We want more than one child but with this taking so long we are not sure if we should wait to start another adoption until after we get our baby from China or go ahead and consider starting a second adoption now. We have so many questions. Our prayer is that God will show us what we are suppose to do. Maybe there is a reason we are having to wait so long. I don't know. I just know that my heart aches to be a mother and I so badly want to hold our precious daughter or daughters from China in my arms. I pray that God will keep them safe while we wait for them. I also pray that God will make a way for us to be parents as soon as possible. If you read this blog I ask that you would also pray for all the children in China who are waiting for a family and all the families that are waiting for a child.

Hurray!

Well, it took them long enough but China is finally matching people with Log-in-dates of 06'. It took them forever to get through 05'. They have matched people with LID's through Jan 4th, 2006. Are LID is May, 30, 2006. We are still hoping for a referral in summer of 09'. Slow and steady it goes but one day we will be parents. Just maybe they will speed up enough that we could get a referral in early 09'. It doesn't hurt to hope. Congratulations to all those who just received their referrals.

What a year so far!!

Darrell and I have had a rough start to the new year. I lost my dad on Jan. 2nd and then we had to rush to Boston to see Darrell's mom who was very ill and passed away on Feb. 3rd. Darrell's mom was a great lady who had a strong faith in the Lord and loved life. She loved to travel, especially to Florida, she loved color and the view the lake from her house. She raised six wonderful children. I am so blessed to have known her. She is now in heaven with Jesus and is reunited with her husband Paul who passed away several years ago. Darrell and I are emotionally and physically exhausted but we have made it through and will continue to because of our faith in Jesus Christ. We are so thankful for our friends and family who have prayed for us and loved on us. We hope that the rest of the year will be better and just maybe it will end with us getting a referral from China. If I have learned anything from all of this it is that life here on earth is fleeting. Take every moment you have to let the people in your life know how much you love them.

My Dad

I hope everyone's Christmas was great. Our family had a rough holiday. My dad was in the hospital Thanksgiving and Christmas. He was sick for quite awhile and on Jan. 2, 2008 he went home to be with the Lord. I know he is in heaven and is in no more pain but it's still hard to give him up. My dad was a great dad. Growing up he went to every basketball game I played in, every football game I danced at and every choir concert I sang in. He took me to school every morning because I hated to ride the bus. He led me to Jesus and baptized me. I am so thankful that I had such a great dad for as long as I did. He was a man of God who loved people and who loved to laugh. I am sad that he will not get to meet our babies and watch them grow up. He would have been a great grandpa to them. I will love and cherish him always.

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas time. This is my favorite time of year. I love the holidays, the winter weather, and being with friends and family. This is a time when we can remember and be truly grateful for the greatest gift ever given, Jesus. I pray that during the hustle and bustle of the season you will not forget the reason we celebrate Christmas.

Darrell and I want to give you an update on the adoption process. Our hearts are truly saddened by news we received from our agency yesterday. We were told that we would not get a referral until sometime in 2009. Mostly likely not until July or August of 2009. That means we have to wait 20 more months for a referral. We have already waited 18 months. We get so many questions about why it's taking so long. Well, no one could be more frustrated and sad than Darrell and I. When we started the process it was suppose to only take 9-12 months and the wait has just kept increasing. The explanation of why it's taking so long is that there are so many people adopting from China that there is a back log. Our agency has been wonderful and they are great about answering our questions. China is the one who holds our future. Once you are logged in to there system it's in there hands,not our agency's. People ask us all the time why we don't just go another route. Well, there are a couple of reasons. One, we have money invested in our adoption and we can not get it back. Two, we truly believe that we are suppose to adopt from China. When we started the adoption process, we both felt like God was calling us to China. We know God has a special baby or babies for us from China. We don't understand why it is taking so long and trust me it has not been easy. I have had several days when all I could do was cry but we have faith that one day we will be parents of amazing little girls. I ask each of you who read this blog to pray for our sweet babies, and that the process will speed up and that we will get them sooner than later.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas!!

Much Love,
Krista and Darrell

It's Almost November Already!!

My how time flies. I can't believe it's already the end of October. Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here before we know it. Sorry it's been so long since we've posted anything. Life has been busy. Darrell is loving his new job. He's working hard and learning alot. I am changing jobs within the College of Business at ACU. I start my new position on Nov. 5th. Molly is doing well. She just got her teeth cleaned at the vet and has nice clean breath.

Another exciting thing that has happened is that our church has started an Adoption and Foster Care Ministry. We are very excited to be a part of this ministry. We are having are first Waiting Family Support group in a few weeks. We believe this ministry can be a vital part of our church and community.

We continue to wait and have no further updates on our status. It is still looking like we could receive a referral around Nov. 2008. In the meantime we are saving money, decorating the nursery, and spending quality time together. We look forward to seeing our family and friends during the holiday season. Until next time...