Psalm 105:1

This verse came up on my Bible app as the verse for the day. How relevant.

105 ^1-6 Hallelujah!

Thank God! Pray to him by name!
    Tell everyone you meet what he has done!
Sing him songs, belt out hymns,
    translate his wonders into music!
Honor his holy name with Hallelujahs,
    you who seek God. Live a happy life!
Keep your eyes open for God, watch for his works;
    be alert for signs of his presence.
Remember the world of wonders he has made,
    his miracles, and the verdicts he’s rendered—

This weekend we we really blessed and I got the feeling that God wanted us to share what He has done. 

For some time, we have been saving(in an account separate from our adoption fund),  for a newer vehicle. This weekend we were able to sell our 98 corolla in sort of beat up shape for a lot more than we thought we would get. We were very honest with the guy on what needed fixed and he still payed more than what we thought according to blue book.  I know this doesn't seem like a big deal but it is a blessing to us. We are now in the market for like 03-05 Camry, avalon or some other mid-size sedan that is safe for a baby =) If you see anything, let us know! 

But even better,

 If you squint or zoom in you can read the card. The words are just perfect!

I don't know if this card was meant for adoption but it seems perfect. We were also blessed with some very generous financial gifts this weekend, which is great because now our Home Study fee and our Birthparent fee are taken care of! God has provided and this verse says we are supposed to "tell everyone". I am so thankful for all the people that have supported us along the way. I know God is going to make Himself evident. 

The second part of this verse says, "Keep your eyes open for God, watch for His works and be alert for signs of his presence."  This is exactly what the sermon at WellSpring was about yesterday. Our God is a BIG God! You can listen to the sermon here. It should be posted by 8:30am central time.  Here is a fun fact: this sermon has my favorite Bible story in it.

We have one more visit and then our home study process is complete. Then we wait.  I think that is when the stretching will come. We will be applying  for grants, doing yard sales and other things to keep us busy but mostly we will be completely waiting on God.  Sully, my parents, Andy(pastor and boss), my close friends or anyone who knows me, can tell you I am not patient while waiting. I can be patient with a screaming two-year old but letting God work in His time does not come easy.  Pray for me?

One more note and then I am done. We thank God for you. It really encourages us to know that people are reading our blog and walking with us. So again, We thank God for you.

a church and a convention

This weekend was a great weekend for us. We were blessed by 2 things I felt the need to blog about. This weekend, God moved through a church and a convention.

 

a church

Sully and I needed to be in East Tennessee for the weekend so this was a rare occasion for us to be at a different church on Sunday morning. Sully's dad is on staff as the Children's Pastor at First Baptist Pigeon Forge. It is also the church that Sully grew up in.  The church is a lot different from WellSpring but we enjoyed the service.  Since Pigeon Forge is a vacation spot for a lot of people on this weekend, they had a special time to pray for pastors or church staff that may be visiting in the area.  We felt a bit awkward as we stood up, but I am glad we did. Some people came up, laid hands on us and prayed for us and our ministry. They prayed that the staff we work with would stay united and that we would submit to whatever God may have coming down the road. 

What really got to me the most was how many people from FBC Pigeon Forge are following the blog. There were so many ladies, whom I hadn't met before, who knew everything about it. They went on to tell me they are praying for us and are so excited. God's church is so cool. It was like there was  family there that I just hadn't met yet. It was so special for them to care about what is going on in our life. It made me so excited for Heaven to think about all of our "family" members we will meet. 

a convention

Sully and I were part of a design team for a new event called RezKidz! The event happened this past weekend. It was better than I could have ever imagined. The idea of the convention was to bring families to a place where they can worship together and learn about bringing faith to the daily routine at home.  There was one point this weekend, during the worship, when Dads had their little girls on their shoulders and they were praising God together. It might have been one of the most beautiful things I have seen in a while.  It was a great time remind us that it pleases God when we, His children, tell our children about him. 

The whole time we were there, I kept envisioning glimpses of Sully with our baby on his shoulders.  I can't wait to praise Jesus with our kid! 

We have a meeting this Wednesday and then one more to complete our study. Please be praying for these meetings. Once we are approved, we will begin the process of applying for grants and fundraising. Thank you for your support!

What we came up with...

Here is what we came up with for a potential birth parent to read.

Hi. We are Sully and Melissa Cook.  Let me start by saying, we have thought about this special part of the process for a while.  We would like to think that we know the perfect words to say in our letter to you. The truth is, we don’t.   We do know, that above all else, we will deeply love any child who comes into our care.  We will pray for them everyday and do our best to create a safe and loving place for the child.  We would also like to encourage you even in the smallest way. We have been praying for you since the day we decided to welcome a child in our home.

So now we would like to give you a little information about how we met, what our life is like and why we are on this journey where your path and ours have now crossed.

Sullivan and I met while I was working as a Children’s Minister at a church in Pigeon Forge, TN .  I first met Sullivan’s dad, Wayne at a ministry luncheon since Wayne is a Children’s Minister as well.  After meeting, Wayne brought his family to church, which included his son, Sully. His father then proceeded to encourage Sully to ask me for a date.  It didn’t take too much!  Sullivan and I connected on our very first date.  We were together for about two years before we were married in Franklin, TN.  Sullivan and I are very different but it works really well. We balance each other out. We have a different set of gifts and I have loved learning how God uses us both in our marriage and in our community.  He is more reserved and I am a goofball. He is steady where I am flighty. We have a great respect for each other’s personalities.

Our life is really a blessing.  We have a great church that we work for and a very close group of friends. So many of our close friends have adopted and we have been able to see first hand how special these kids are.  While we do not have immediate family close by, our church has become this for us.  We are very involved and a lot of our free time is spent with families from our small group.  Even though, we are not geographically close to our family, we are close relationally. Sully and I talk weekly to our parents and they are praying for this journey as well.  

We are not perfect and our life is not perfect but God’s presence in our life has given us perfect peace. We have walked through some hard things and God has been ever-present.

We believe God has also put us on the path of adoption since the early days of our relationship and has kept in the front of our minds.  Unlike most people on this journey, we did not start because of infertility.  God very clearly told us to adopt so we passively began the process. A few months after, I found out I have a condition that makes conceiving very difficult and most women are successful with fertility treatment. Upon receiving this diagnosis, we felt that this was God pushing even more towards adoption. Sully and I have not gone through fertility treatment and do not plan to at this time. We believe that God has called us to build our family through adoption at the moment.

When thinking about the future of our relationship, we would like to have a level of openness with you. We plan on telling our son or daughter often about their birthparents and the special adoption plan that was made for them. It is our hope that our child will recognize that God can choose to build families in so many ways.  We would love to send pictures back and forth on a regular basis.  We think it would be  special  for the child to know if  they maybe  have the same eyes or smile as their birth-mother. 

We hope that you spend some time learning more about us in our profile. We really are a fun couple!

whew. 

"then their eyes were opened and they realized..."

We heard from the adoption agency today!

Our first home study visit is scheduled for Wednesday the 16th at 3pm.

We are so excited!

I must say that I do feel a little bit like Adam and Eve in Genesis 3:7

"Then they eyes of both of them were opened and they realized their house was dirty and some things needed updated. So they planned to finally touch up the paint and clean the baseboards."

Anybody know what they look for in a home study?

Trademarks of God

If today, the second day of January, is any indication of what 2013 is going to be like, we are in for an amazing year.

We have not been on this journey very long but I am so glad God called us to it. It has connected us in ways and with people we never would have imagined.

As far as updates go, we have finished all our paperwork and will submit it this week. We hope to have a date for the first visit on the books very soon.

God has been working on our behalf for this adoption. I can't help but imagine when He called us to this that He was sitting in Heaven thinking with a smile, "I can't wait till they see what I am going to do."

God amazed us today.  This verse was brought to my attention and I don't think I really understood it until now.

          "God can pour on the blessing in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than "just ready" to do what he needs to be done...."
-2 Corinthians 9:8 MSG

God is making us ready. It is astonishing.

Then we were reminded of the trademarks of God.

    I’m God, and I act in loyal love.
I do what’s right and set things right and fair,
    and delight in those who do the same things.
These are my trademarks.”

-Jeremiah 9:24

I believe God is delighting in our obedience and we are seeing his trademarks.  Even if our journey ended now, I would be content knowing that God has reminded me that He is every-present in our lives right now.

I love that The Creator loves me.