It's been a long time...

First of all we would like to apologize for the lack of information that we have provided. Although we are without doubt that we have been called to adoption, it has also become very apparent that administration and organization are not our strongest gifts. While the initial process of adoption might run smoother and quicker for some adoptive families, we are certainly falling behind in this area.

Now that the fall school semester has come to an end and we have gained an increase in time by limiting our outside obligations, we are ready to move forward with our purpose.

Our first major roadblock in the adoption process is coming up with the necessary finances to get us past the first phase, the Dossier, otherwise known as "the paper chase." Our adoption process began with the need to assemble many various documents (called the dossier) including financial statements, employment/health information, background checks, and the dreaded home study (which really isn't so dreaded).

The home study is a process that involves a social worker that will have multiple meetings with our family to outline our background and details of our household. The records from this home study will go through several levels of certification before they can be used as the legal framework for our adoption process, and takes anywhere from 3-6 months to complete. Once it is finished and approved, it will be sent to our adoption agency (AWAA) for final review. Once approved, our dossier will be forwarded to Ethiopia, translated, and processed before we can move farther along.

We tell you this because it really does take a village to adopt a child and we need your support! The dossier is an expensive process that every adoptive family goes through. Because we have not completed the dossier, we have not been "state certified" or officially approved. And because we are currently funding the adoption out of pocket we can only operate as quickly as our financial support is acquired. Once we complete the dossier and become "certified" and "approved," we hope to be able to set up a non-profit account in which donors can make tax-deductible donations, and will be able to apply for grants and financial assistance from various organizations. But until the dossier is approved, we are vulnerable to waiting.

A friend recently reminded me that God is never late, He is always on time. The Bible says, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31).

What we would like to ask of you is that you would renew your commitment to pray for us while we journey through adoption, that we would not be weary but walk forward refreshed in God's timing and trusting in His provision.

Thank you for your generous support through prayer.

With love,
The Waits Bunch

One of these days...

Well folks, we (mostly Zehra), have been so busy and have not been updating the blog.  We are determined to get cracking on posting updates.  So let me begin....

We are going slow.  Gathering papers to send for approval to become part of our dossier.  We need to begin our home study very soon however it is difficult at this point because of finances.  Because there are post adoption reports that the social worker must do, we must pay for all reports includes those after the adoption, upfront.  We are not in a place where we can pay for ALL that at once.  So, we are praying about ways to raise funds.  Most grants that we can apply for are for after the home study process.  Just be in prayer for us as we seek direction. 

Finally a new update........

Well where to begin with the Waits Family.......

In July........

Yard Sale- The Waits Bunch was SO BLESSED by the gracious giving and support during our first fundraiser toward our adoptions.  We raised over $2400.00!!!!!!!  THANK YOU all so much for your love, support and prayers!!!

The Waits Family went on vacation!!!  A much needed vacation if I do say so myself.  Michael and I took Morgan to Disney World!!  We had a wonderful time.  I will have to officially ask Morgan what her favorite part was...  But I am pretty sure Michael loved meeting Mad Hatter and I loved Mary Poppins!! 
That is the super short version.  I will attempt to put up pics later.

Adoption Update.....

On August 9th we mailed our first major payment toward our adoptions.  Along with this payment we made America World Adoption (AWAA) the agency to help guide us on our journey.  Lots of paper signing!  Yuck, my least favorite part of life, paperwork.  We have been assigned a Family Coordinator named Christina.  We are now in the process of getting our Dossier started. 

So officially we are PAPER PREGNANT!!!!!!!, I think. We are SO excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

That is the short of the long.  The goal for us is to blog at least weekly but don't hold your breath!  :)

-Zehra

Sidewalk Sale

We are less than 24 hours out before our big yard sale – turned sidewalk sale to help fundraise our adoption expenses.


So many people have donated items to this sale to help make it what we already believe is a successful event. The words “thank you” simply cannot express our gratitude for all the hard work that has gone into this already. We recognize how gracious it is that so many people would be inclined to give of themselves in such ways. Our friends and family have really gone the extra mile to make this event a success. And when we say extra mile, we mean it! One person has even driven from Oxford, Ohio just to bring some items. Another has let us use his truck on several occasions. And everyone else is giving with compassion and thoughtfulness as well.

This is the definition of love. The apostle Paul wrote about the excellence of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and we believe this has been demonstrated to us.

Love,
The Waits Bunch

It Always Amazes Me.....

First let me say that this whole blogging thing is difficult for me.  For someone who usually has so much to say, no laughing peanut gallery, I struggle to gather my thoughts to write.  I have so much constantly running through my head that I am afraid it all won't make any sense.  But oh well, it's our family blog so I am entitled to write whatever I want so...  here it goes.

I was reminded tonight, as I have been many times recently, of the verses in Psalms 139 regarding God's great sovereignty over each created being.


Psalms 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.


My amazement comes from the thoughts surrounding being knitted together in the mother's womb.  I have always looked at these verses as how wonderful it is to think that God, a great, powerful, all-knowing, supreme being, knew me before I was knitted in my mother's womb.


 But recently I have been thinking about how that God knew not only me but also my children.  Not only did he know my children, but he knew that at least for my first 3 children, none of them would be knitted in my womb.  They would be knitted together and wonderfully made to be joined with me in a different manor than the average traditional thought of motherhood or family.  God did not choose for me to bear these children from my womb, not Morgan, not my future children.  Now that is a lot to swallow, especially for me.  I have desired more than anything to have children.  So very much so that I have neglected at times even to recognize the blessing that God has given me through Morgan.  I was so wrapped up in desiring to control my situation and "make children" on my own.  But as it usually is, God has other plans for me.  (Mine are usually never the same as His.) 
So....  God has or is knitting together possibly right this very minute a child or the children that He has set apart for Michael and I.  I never thought I would hear myself say this but that is just the most amazing thought.  Children that we did not conceive are set apart for us.  That gives me butterflies in my stomach.  I am filled with great anticipation wrapped all up in anxiety as I await His plan to be played out. 
~z

It's Official......

We made our first major step toward adopting this evening......   the application has been submitted.  We were all worried about getting everything perfect on this application but after calling the agency with some questions, our anxieties were relieved to be able to finally submit the application.  Michael and I are so blessed with this opportunity.  Please continue to pray for us as we go through the process.  We now await the agency to contact us with approval to begin the "paper pregnancy" portion; basically, just a million documents that we must get together to send to Ethiopia.  Updates will be posted as we know what's going on. 

The "Family Photo" we sent in with our application.

Help Support Our International Adoption!

Our journey

What comes to mind when you hear the word adoption?

For us, it seems to have always been something that other people do. Some desire to have children or want to add to their family, in other cases perhaps a step-parent is given rights that a biological parent gave up after a divorce, or it's a fad humanitarian project, or possibly it is done out of compassion for children needing loving homes. But adoption has never been a subject we really talked about. And as we have prayed for numeric additions to our family, we began asking God why we are having to wait so long, what is His purpose in our waiting?

Is it coincidental that our last name is Waits?

As we began to search for answers to those questions, we found the Bible says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart" (Psalm 37:4). But even this brought on more questions. How long will we have to wait before He gives us the desires of our hearts?

We began to think that if we could just read our Bible's more, pray harder, be more faithful; then perhaps God would finally give us the desires of our heart. But as time moved forward the wait became longer, and still we found ourselves desiring children.

As impatience grew to bitterness, and bitterness to resentment, before long we began to feel like we were being punished for something. The Bible says in Hebrews 12:7, "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons." And the writer of Hebrews was right when he said, "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful..." (Heb. 12:11a).

Sorrowful is right. Had we done something wrong that God would be disciplining us? It took a while before we could answer that question; there is a reason God disciplines His children. That passage goes on to say, "Yet to those who have been trained by it (discipline), afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness" (Heb. 12:11b).

It's hard to see how trials can produce peaceful fruit when you're in the thick of the storm. It isn't until the storm is over that light begins to shine and the fruit begins to bloom. I believe this is why the Bible tells us to "strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed" (Hebrews 12:12).

It tooks some time for us to figure it out, but what the Bible is telling us is that God's purpose in our discipline, His purpose in our trials is so that later they will produce a harvest of righteousness and peace. Who would have ever thought that the conclusion to our unhappiness would not be the answer we were hoping for and yet we would find peace in it? This contradicts our logical way of thinking; we had been expecting a particular answer to our prayers; unfulfilled desires. But God had other plans in mind.

We found that something needed to be healed but could not be because we had not made level paths for our feet. The Bible says, "In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:6). What ailed us was not physical, but spiritual. It was not until we fully submitted to God's plan for our lives and found rest in knowing His plans may not be ours before the spiritual healing began.

"Delight yourself in the Lord..." I say it again, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart." The problem of sin is that we are by nature selfishly motivated. When we pray, "I want, I need, I desire...," we are thinking only of ourselves. It isn't until we begin to pray "Not my will, Lord, but yours..." that God gives us a desire for His plan, His way, and on His time.

It wasn't until we had reached this point that God began to show us part of His plan. As we began to discover the world of adoption; this quiet place that seldom gets talked about, we began to discover that there are millions of children all over the world without families. And as we learned more about orphans who are just as needy for mommies and daddies as they are for children, the more our hearts began to break for these orphans with uncertain futures ahead of them.

Is adoption plan B? Is it what people do when they can't seem to have children of their own? No, adoption is plan A. It is the means in which God gives children to loving families, and loving families to children who desperately need them. Right now there are children who are desperate for loving families; they are desperate for mom's and dad's to love them; they are desperate to belong to someone. It is our prayer that by belonging to someone, they will also be given the chance to belong to the One, God the Father, who has adopted us into His family.

With love,
The Waits Bunch

Yard Sale Fundraiser Change of Date

We're having our first fundraiser! On Saturday July 17th, 7:00am we will be having a yard sale in which all earnings will go toward our pre-approval process. We are asking friends and family to donate an item(s) to this yard sale that will aid in financing this tremendous endeavor.

If you would like to donate to the yard sale, or even come and help us work, please let us know by emailing us here.

Your support is appreciated.
Love,
The Waits Bunch

Biblical Adoption

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him in love. He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.” “In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.” Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

“For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,” Romans 8:15-17

As children of God, believers in the name of Jesus Christ and faithful followers through the Holy Spirit, the Bible tells us that we have been adopted into God's kingdom. This brings great joy into our hearts. Have you ever been to an orphanage? Have you seen commercials on your television that ask you to donate $1 per day to help feed a hungry child? The imagery we are often shown of orphans from around the world give us a picture of hopelessness and helplessness. This is how the Bible describes our state of deprivation apart from Jesus Christ. We are hopeless and helpless without the Father extending His mercy unto us to bring us into His family.

For His glory, we have been adopted through Christ! We come from different parts of the world, we look different, we talk different, we act different, we think different; and yet God the Father scoops us into His hands and brings us together in one family, the family of God.

In days of old, families often gave an inheritance to their children. Many times these external inheritances were given when the children reached an appropriate age to receive them. This still happens today in some parts of the world but not often enough that we have a clear understanding of it taking place. However, there are also some internal inheritances that are received from even the moment of birth. Great blessings such as love, care, safety, protection and so much more are given out of love and grace. These we take for granted; parents should love unconditionally, and yet this again is often overlooked in today's society made up of reward and instant gratification.

"But God," as the Bible tells us, "Being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace and kindness toard us in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-7

When we become part of the family of God, we are given the same spiritual blessings as any other. God gives us an inheritance that is equal to all His family members, and seats us in the heavenly places in Christ. He does it out of love, graciousness, and kindness. We have been given a spirit of adoption, and as children of God we become inheritors of His great blessings. It is a gift of God.

I'm so glad that God has adopted me into his family. Me! Of all the people, He chose me. Why? I don't know. It wasn't because I was good enough. It wasn't because there was something special about me. It must have been because of His great love and mercy. I was helpless and hopeless; lost in the darkness without a glimmer of rescue. And then came our Savior. He paid the ultimate price for me; He paid it for us. No cost was too great, Jesus paid it all. I'm so glad I have a Father that loved me so much, that He chose me before I knew Him.

Love,
The Waits Bunch

Welcome!

This is our second attempt to start a family blog. Only God knows how this is going to end up, but with hope it will be successful the second time around.

Allow us to introduce ourselves! I'm Zehra, the first lady of the house. I'm a full-time Christian wife, step-mom, occupational therapist, dog lover, Arbonne consultant, and facebook enthusiast. I am actively involved in our church, First Baptist Church, Taylorsville, where I sing in the women's ensemble, help teach a Wednesday night kids program, and serve in various roles in some of our committees.

My husband, Michael, is a full-time Christian husband, dad, graphic artist, and is studying at Boyce College of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to pursue his call to ministry. He preaches occassionally whenever/wherever he gets the chance, and loves to tell people about our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

My step-daughter Morgan is a full-time kid, fourth grader, tooth loser, joy-giver, and horse enthusiast. When given the chance she even dresses up the dog and leads him around the house like a horse (we think he just loves the attention).

And finally there is Lincoln, Sunny, Tony, and Sweet Pea. Lincoln is also known as Linky-stinky. He is our 1-1/2 year old golden retriever house dog who loves going outside, antagonizing the cats, and walks in the park. Sunny doesn't love anything, he's the cat that's always trying to escape the house. Tony is a sweet fat-cat that is always there to wake us up in the mornings. He loves antagonizing the dog! =] And finally Sweet Pea, she's our outside rescue cat. She was a stray that needed a home. She loves to eat and sleep on the back porch. She and Lincoln are good buddies.

Together we're a happy little family that experiences all the ups and downs most normal families face, and sometimes a few more of one than the other. :) We are blessed with what we have and owe it all to our heavenly Father above, James 1:17.

We hope you'll come back to visit. We are on the break of some wonderful changes in our family as we seek the Lord to grow spiritually and numerically! Feel free to comment as often as you like and let us know how you're doing.

Love in Christ,
The Waits Bunch!