It's a boy!

On Christmas Eve, we received the call that we have been matched with a baby boy. We named him Nathanael Sung-En Shubert. Nathanael means "Gift from God". We had chosen another middle name for Nathanael, but when we got the call and were told his Chinese name and its meaning, we decided to keep that as his middle name. Sung-En means "praise and grace" or "praise His grace". We felt this was perfect for our little boy! We were told that it should be about 4 months until we are able to travel and bring him home! We are so excited. He is 21 days old today!

Meet Baby Shubert

We got the call this morning that we are matched with a baby. We are currently waiting to call back to find out if we are having a boy or a girl and to learn a little more. I had nothing to do while we were waiting so I decided to blog. Of course this means that we completed and sent in out homestudy last week. We are excited beyond words!

Update on fundraising progress and the FBI clearance

I just got news from our social worker that the FBI clearance will take one more week! I'm glad to hear that since I was thinking it might be 3 or 4. Also, we received several more donations for our adoption. According to estimates we have received from several people who have adopted from The Home of God's Love, we basically only have travel expenses left to raise!!! God is so good to us!

"Praise the Lord! My whole being praise the Lord. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praises to the Lord as long as I live."
Psalm 146:1-2

Fundraiser Success and prayer request

We are overwhelmed by the love and support from our church family! Our cookie shop and silent auction fundraiser was a huge success. We made over 3,000 dollars toward our adoption!!! God is so good and so is our church family! Secretly, I was hoping we'd reach the 1,000 dollar mark and God and our church more than tripled that! We are so excited. With what we've paid in and with the gifts we have been given through fundraisers, we have more than 2/3 of the approximate cost of our adoption!!! How exciting.

On a less exciting note, PLEASE pray that our FBI clearance comes back. It should take 3-4 weeks and has now been over 6 weeks. We are not hearing anything about this. We cannot complete our homestudy or be matched with Baby Shubert until this clearance comes back. We would appreciate your prayers that this situation is resolved. I for one, feel quite helpless about it. However, I serve a BIG GOD!

"So I tell you, ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened." Luke 11:9-10

Fundraiser and Prayer Request

Remember the Trees of Christmas, Silent Auction, and Cookie Shop event at Crossroads Church of the Nazarene in Ocean Springs, MS from 4-6 pm on December 5th. There will be great gift items as well as delicious goodies to buy for yourself or give as a gift. There will be cards available for you to put in your gift stating that the proceeds from the gift went to the Shubert Adoption Fund.

In other news, Please pray about our homestudy. I have contacted our social worker several times with no response. We cannot be matched with a child until the homestudy is completed. We have been waiting on one item to be returned to her from a government agency. We need this detail worked out to move to the next stage of our adoption...which is meeting Baby Shubert through pictures and information from The Home of God's Love. We would appreciate your prayers about this matter.

"Give glory to God in heaven, and on earth let there be peace among people who please God." Luke 2:14 NCV

Adoption Fundraiser

Come one, come all to Crossroads Church on December 5th from 4-6 p.m. Our church is hosting a Christmas event, as well as a fundraiser for our adoption! Come enjoyed themed Christmas trees and hot chocolate at the trees of Christmas event.
Stay for the silent auction ending at 5:30 p.m. and featuring pottery, jewelry, decorative crosses, crafts, a muzzleloader, a deer stand, a night of babysitting, a Dallas Cowboys jersey, an Alabama memorabilia item, a family portrait, a fishing trip for 4 on the gulf with food and bait provided, a father/son or father/daughter hunting trip in Stateline, MS and much, much more.
Also attend the Cookie shop where you can purchase a tin and choose 12 cookies, brownies, bars or candies to fill it for $5. Purchase as many tins as you like. These come in handy for Christmas parties and gifts.
We look forward to seeing you there! Thanks to all of you who have donated items and baked goodies for this event!

"The Lord has done great things for us and we are very glad." Psalm 126:3

God's Timing

I was reading Matthew chapter 2 in my devotions this morning. I love reading the story of the Christ-child, especially approaching Christmas. This time I was amazed at the precise way that everything in that chapter fulfilled a prophecy. God's timing was impeccable. He warned the wise men to return another way, in order to protect Jesus. He warned Joseph to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt to protect the Christ-child. Then, He told them to return, because Herod had died and it was now safe to do so. Each one of these things we would view as delays, had a specific purpose. Sometimes the purpose was to fulfill prophecy, "I called my son out of Egypt", and "He will be called a Nazarene." Sometimes simply for the protection and the good of this little family.
As we are waiting for our child to join our family, we have experienced several delays. Right now, we are waiting for the FBI fingerprinting results to come back so that our homestudy can be completed. We have been waiting on this for several weeks. I have found myself impatient for this to happen this week because our social worker is going on vacation the end of this week, and then there is Thanksgiving. We can't be matched with a child until this is completed. God reminded me today that His plan and His timing are perfect. He knows which child or children He has planned to bless our home with. We will be matched with that child or children in his perfect timing. I am going to do my best to sit back and trust Him and stop trying to get answers on my timetable. His is better than mine!

"As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in Him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is a Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect." 2 Samuel 22:31-33

National Adoption Awareness Month

November is national adoption awareness month. Many people do not understand that Brian and I WANT to adopt. I recently went to the doctor for a physical for our adoption homestudy. She asked me if I had exhausted every effort to have children biologically. I tried to explain that I had not, but saw the need for adoption rather than in vitro. We could spend money and hope for a child. Or we can give a home to a child who is right now without a home. For us it is the very picture of what God, our Father does for us by welcoming us into His family. I did not do a very good job of explaining this to her. However, a friend referred me to an article on the KLOVE website. Russell Moore can articulate it better than I can.
"Adoption is not just about couples who want children -- or who want more children. Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself...I want to ask what it would mean if our churches and families were known as the people who adopt babies -- and toddlers, and children, and teenagers. What if we as Christians were known, once again, as the people who take in orphans and make of them beloved sons and daughters?...Not everyone is called to adopt. No one wants parents who adopt children out of the same sense of duty with which they may give to the building fund for the new church gymnasium. But all of us have a stake in the adoption issue, because Jesus does. He is the one who tells us His Father is also "Father of the fatherless" (Psalm 68:5). And, He is the one who insists on calling "the least of these" His "brothers" (Matthew 25:40) and who tells us that the first time we hear His voice, He will be asking us if we did the same." Russell D. Moore

I shared some of this quote on facebook and a friend of mine had this to say, "EVERYONE can have a part in adoption, even if they are not bringing a child into their own home. If only the church would be as strong of an advocate for adoption as it is against abortion - what good could be done in the name of Christ!" Matt Kinnell, adoptive father of adorable twins from Ethiopia
I completely agree with Matt. Just some food for thought in observance of National Adoption Awareness Month.
If you are interested in finding out more about what churches and individuals can do to support orphans and adoption, check out the following websites.
www.cryoftheorphan.org
www.hopefororphans.org (a ministry of Family Life)
www.icareaboutorphans.org (a ministry of Focus on the Family)

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

We serve a faithful God!

I wanted to update you guys on the process! We are waiting for our background checks to be returned and Brian to get his TB test for our homestudy to be completed. We are REALLY close!
God has been talking to both Brian and I about trusting him to provide for our adoption and our daily needs. Our pastor has been sharing really relevant sermons about being desperate for God. Brian talked about how when we are really desperate, we have no hope to meet our needs without God stepping in. Brian even shared about this today in worship. Well, we agreed to ask God to meet our needs and....Today a wonderful couple gave us a check for $1,000 toward our adoption! God is so good and so are His people!

"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
2 Corinthians 9:8

Progress!

We had our third meeting for the homestudy. We basically are done with the homestudy. We have a few things she needs us to get to her. And then, at the next meeting, she will be presenting us with the completed homestudy to send to The Home of God's Love in Taiwan! This is so exciting!!!
Also, we are working on a couple of fundraisers for the adoption. The first one is selling handmade soaps, shower gels, body and room spray, lotions, etc. Please comment if you are interested in purchasing these reasonably-priced items. We are also planning a fundraiser at our church on January 30th. It will consist of music, food, and a silent auction. Sounds like fun, right? We'd love to have you there.
Please continue to pray for us and Ted and Bev Skiles as they, with God's leading, choose our child and match us with him or her. God knows which child he has for us and only He can make a family. He has a plan for Baby Shubert.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart. “ Jeremiah 1:5-6

Short update

Our 3rd homestudy meeting was postponed from Tuesday at 10 a.m. to Thursday at 10 a.m. by our social worker. We are looking forward to meeting with her and moving the process along!

Moving along

We have now had our 2nd homestudy meeting with only 2 left. The next one is at our home on October 20th. We are frantically working on projects for our house to be "child-safe" and scheduling doctor's appointments and passport sessions for the homestudy and adoption. We LOVE the social worker doing our homestudy. She is a wonderful Christian lady and feels like one of the family!

On another note, a prayer request is that my hours at work were cut from 40 per week to 15. This basically will allow us to continue to have insurance, but I will receive little or no salary. This is not the best timing since we are in the middle of our homestudy. However, none of this surprised God! Please pray for wisdom as I look for at my options for work. This is particularly interesting, as we need to be able to drop everything and go to Taiwan once we are matched with a child and the court date is set. Again, none of this surprised God. Please pray that we will be encouraged and our faith will remain strong!

I love sharing this journey with you all!

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:25

One Down, Three to Go

Tonight, we had our first meeting with the social worker who is doing our homestudy. God is SO good. She was the sweetest lady and reminded me so much of a close family friend that I felt so at ease with her!
OK, but something funny happened and I had to share the story. For those of you who know Brian well, you know that he can be easily distracted. We met in a coffee shop with two TVs on two different channels. Plus we were sitting near the door, where he noticed everyone who walked in. This resulted in him not contributing to the conversation as much as he normally would. Halfway through the meeting, our social worker turns to me and says, "You two remind me so much of me and my husband: I love to talk (she indicated she was identifying with me) and he is layed back and loves to laugh (indicating Brian). I talk, he laughs at my jokes. We both win. It was all I could do to just smile and nod rather than explode with laughter!!! If she ONLY knew how quiet I am and how outgoing he is! She will learn through this process of getting to know us, won't she?!
We completed our first meeting. We meet with her again on Tuesday morning! Then there will only be 2 left after that! Man, this process is MOVING!!! Thank you for your prayers!

"Sarah said, 'God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.'" Genesis 21:6

How can you help us with adoption?

We have been asked this question often lately as we have many supportive friends and family members.
There are three main answers:
1. Please pray for us and Ted and Bev Skiles who run the orphanage in Taiwan. Pray that God gives them wisdom in the decisions they have to make. Pray that God helps us maneuver the difficult road of international adoption. Pray that God grants us favor with judges and government officials. Pray that God provides the finances for us to adopt. International adoption usually ranges from 25,000-50,000 dollars. Because we found an orphanage that is a Christian ministry, ours should only cost around 8,000 dollars!

2. This brings me to point number 2. We will be doing some fundraisers in the near future that we would love for you to participate in. Also, I had 2 people on Monday remind me that some people may not want to purchase items, but may simply want to give. If you are interested in contributing securely through PayPal, you can follow the link that is in the post below. Feel free to email or comment with any questions about this. I am a little uncomfortable with this, but those same two people reminded me not to "rob someone of a blessing." PLEASE do not feel pressured to give if you do not want to or do not feel you can. Your greatest gift to us is your friendship, support and prayers.

3. Rejoice with us! We are so excited about how God is creating a family for us!

"I will thank the Lord very much. I will praise Him in front of many people." Psalm 109:30

Contribute through PayPal

Exciting News

We were notified that we are officially on the waiting list for the orphanage in Taiwan!!!  The director asked us to go ahead and begin our homestudy!!!  We are so excited about this.  This also makes things seem so much more real to us that we are REALLY on this journey of adoption!  We would like to ask you to help us pray that God will provide the resources for the adoption.  While we have chosen a route that is a small fraction of the cost of a typical adoption, it is still a lot for us.  We are looking at some creative fundraising ideas.  (If you have any suggestions, feel free to share those in the comment section!)  Look for information soon about gift baskets and gift items you may want to purchase for Christmas gifts that would have the added benefit of helping us raise funds for adoption.  Most of all, please PRAY that God works out all the details.  We believe that He has chosen a child for our family.  We believe that He will provide the funds needed and the appropriate paperwork will be accomplished.  We serve an awesome God! 

"He gives children to the woman who has none, and makes her a happy mother.  Praise the Lord!"  Psalm 113:9

The Waiting Game

I received confirmation that ALL of our adoption references have been turned in!!!!  We are so excited.  However, this begins a case of "hurry up and wait."  We are now waiting for confirmation from the orphanage that we have been added to their waiting list.  Then, we will be waiting for a referral...then waiting for a court date...then waiting to bring home our child.  I don't know about you, but I'm not very good at waiting.  I don't like long lines, traffic jams, or delays at the airport!  I do think that waiting has a purpose at times, though.  God has used "waiting times" to teach me to rely on him more fully.  In this time of waiting, I'm reminded of the scripture "...but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40:31 NIV  So, waiting isn't so bad with the Lord renewing your strength and reaffirming His promises to you.  I think I can...I think I can!

References

Today we learned that 6 of the 7 references we have requested have been sent in!  We are so excited and are anxiously awaiting the news that we have been put on the waiting list at the orphanage in Taiwan!  Our journey began in 2002 when we heard Steven Curtis Chapman on a Focus on the Family broadcast discussing his recent adoption (his first) from China.  I (Heather) was getting ready for work and was moved to tears by the Chapman's story.  In that moment, I felt God tugging at my heart toward adoption.  It has been awhile and we have had some life experience since then (including Hurricane Katrina!), but we still feel God wanting to unite us heart to heart with our child across the ocean.  We took some steps over a year ago to begin this journey.  There were some paperwork mixups and we just heard last week that the orphanage had sent out our reference requests.  Some people would be annoyed by this, but we know that God's timing is perfect.  We have recently moved back to Mississippi and live near my sister and brother-in-law as well as dear friends.  We are part of a vibrant, exciting church family.  God knows what He is doing!  I will continue to blog as we have updates in the adoption process.

"Children are a gift from the Lord; babies are a reward."  Psalm 127:3