An Open Book

Today, as I was remembering back to the beginning of our adoption journey to Malawi. I remember thinking and deciding early on that I wanted to blog. For one, we wanted this blog to serve as a tool for international adoption, international adoption to a 3rd world country, and better yet international adoption to Malawi. First and foremost though, we wanted this blog to be a special part of our story, the story of how God has brought us to this point in our lives, a story of God's faithfulness, a story and testimony of God in our lives. This adoption only exists because of God and we want it to only bring glory to Him!

Through my daily quiet time with Him, recently, I've felt God speak to me and showing me things that have led us to certain decisions, ones met with opposition and discouragement. But we remain faithful because God has revealed things to us and has led us down this particular path and until He shows us something different, we keep on going, knowing and trusting that His will is far greater than anything we could ever imagine.

Today, after I was done with my devotion, a song came to mind: "I Will Lift My Eyes" by Bebo Norman. This song is one of my favorites and it just gave me goosebumps as I stood in my kitchen, washing dishes, singing it out to the Lord. The words in the first verse have been my prayer these past few days:

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God be near, calm my fear
And take my doubt

What led me to this prayer:
Saturday morning I woke up excited to check my email in the hope that I may find a response to the email I sent the doctor's wife who is at the hospital, in Malawi, where the triplets are being cared for. There it was, I had mail, and it was from her! To my surprise, however, it was not the email I was hoping to find. I was expecting a new update on the triplets, one like the last that said they were doing well and gaining weight, but this one was not an update and it was not an email that I received 'well'. The email, in short, said that the word had gotten out in the hospital that we were working to adopt the triplets and that sparked interest in people. Four different individuals were interested in the babies already apparently (1 couple and two nurses) and they somehow got together and came to the conclusion that splitting the girls into 3 homes is what was best because they didn't want the burden to lie on anyone one family. So, they were interested in adopting them.

You can only imagine how I felt! I will be honest, I was a complete mess. Had God really waited 8 months to show us children He wanted us to adopt only to take them away? I had to leave the house, no really I did, I had a lunch playdate for my little ones scheduled for 5 minutes from then and I had to pull it together. Well, that lasted until I made it the house we were going to for lunch, which was just a quick trip up our apartment stairs, and I fell apart at the door as it opened. (note:Trey was at work and unreachable at this time) God knew I needed Traci (our neighbor and friend) and I believe He used her in a mighty way that day as she brought us in and prayed for us. She prayed for the wisdom to discern God's will for our lives, for God to remain faithful to us, for the hearts of these Malawians to be softened (since there are a lot of people in Malawi who still oppose international adoption), for God to show the judges and whomever else what He has already shown us (to keep these babies together). It brought me back! Where Satan had weaseled his way into this crazy moment, to try to bring doubts in my mind, we had used the power of prayer to push him out. Adoption, especially one that involves multiples, may seem to some as a inconvenience, a burden, a distraction to what God has already called our family to, but to us it is a BLESSING! God is bigger than anything and everything we put in front of him; our jobs, our marriage, our families, school, and yup! our adoption! As Job says,

"I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2)

So, He can and He will do all things according to His will and purpose. We continue to seek God and follow where He leads!

Encouraging Words:
I received an email from the TLC "Quints by Surprise" Ethan and Casey Sunday evening in response to one I had written to them two days early. I had asked for some honest advice from them on daily life with multiples. What a blessing their words were. They were honest about it being a tough at times, but they were also honest about the blessings they've had because of their children. They also encouraged us to stay in the Word, to always work hard at our marriage and for it to always stay centered around Christ, and to always make sure to include our older ones (Hannah and Noelle) in everything we do, so that they will always feel included and special!

I also spoke with our lawyer in Malawi yesterday and to our dear friend there. They are going to meet up and start working on everything for us. His words in our conversation on Monday went a little like this:Ralph- "If I can just get you in a room with a judge and let you speak about your love for Africa and orphans, there is no way he can say no to you!"-I pray that this adoption will be a testimony to our attorney that God is in control and that things will work according to His timing and will. I'm not sure if He is a believer, but I hope that we can share Christ with Him while I'm there because He already has such a heart for the orphans in Malawi and if He is a believer, then that is just too cool!!!!! Also, we were told by our friend, Laura, in Malawi that the Crisis Nursery where the girls are to be sent once they reach 5pds, does not allow siblings to be split up (at all)! So, I'm not sure how these families were planning on splitting them up, since the aunt already told Crisis Nursery to take them.

Prayer Requests:
-Pray for God to continue to reveal His will to us, that we may only go where He is leading us
-Pray for the triplet's aunt, that our lawyer may find her, speak with her, and that she will sign a petition to allow the triplets to stay together and allow us to adopt them all
-Pray for the girls (the triplets), for their health
-Pray for our family as we will be transitioning soon to a bigger family, that we always remain focused on God
-Pray for our support, as we still need to raise the $2,500 for my trip (at least $1,800 by the end of the week to purchase my plane ticket)
-Pray for my passport to be updated and sent back quickly and for our FBI Clearances to be returned to us quickly

Where to begin!?!?

'Waiting on God simply means that you continue in your present position until He gives you further instructions. As long as you are obeying Him, you will continue on the correct course.'-Charles Stanley(30 Life Principles)

(this post may be long, but please stay with me here!)

This week began a little different than most weeks, but still no major change. We started de-cluttering and cleaning for our home study visit #2 scheduled for this Sunday, Aug. 28th at 3pm. I had a few things I needed to send our social worker too, but mostly Monday was just another day of fun-filled activities at the Fuller house.

Late Sunday evening I had spoken with our friend in Malawi about where we were in the adoption process and if she had any new phone numbers for me (as the numbers that I've been trying in Malawi for awhile either didn't work or no one ever answered). Laura, our dear friend there, was able to schedule a time on Monday to visit an orphange and she asked me to text her my cell number so that she could tell me to call her when she had gone to the orphanage (to give me an update and fill me in on any children there). To my surprise, I woke up Monday morning to a facebook message from her, it explained that she would be going to the orphanage soon, but she also was encouraging me to 'keep on' and to remember that the blessing of adoption is wonderful and that the children we were tirelessly trying to find were out there and that God would reveal them to us and to not give up! We had never said anything about giving up, but she knew that we needed encouragement...that is what brothers and sisters and Christ should do, and in the case of our adoption and all the unknowns, encouragement and Hope in Christ was just the thing I needed Monday morning! What a great way to start your week, BUT that wasn't all....she sent a link with her note. Now, I wasn't expecting a link and she never mentioned that she was sending one, so I clicked on the link but at that time in the morning I didn't have time to read it.

Morning routine went on like normal, getting the girls dressed and breakfast on the table. While they are eating, I usually sit and do my devotion and that is just what I did. The devotion for the day was based on Psalm 4:8 and the peace that God gives those who are earnestly seeking Him (the peace of knowing your in His will). Even with all the dead ends on our part and 'no answer' phone calls, we've always felt like we were in God's will and had a peace about the process. A peace that meant we knew that God would continue us on a path until He was ready to reveal something else to us about the process. God had taken us from Ethiopia to Malawi, a country with few adoptions in past and no adoption agency in country to work with, He had moved us during the process from Amite to New Orleans, He had shown us that we weren't going to adopt one child but two...and so we continued/continue down the road until He reveals something new. Looking back it was all to give glory to Himself, for us to not to rely on our own strength but on the strength of our Lord and Savior.

At this point the girls were done with breakfast and wanted to swim in the tub (since the pool wasn't open) and I felt God telling me to open the link again that Laura has sent me. So, I sat on the bathroom floor next to the tub I and read! I was OVERWHELMED! Overwhelmed in a good way, though. The link was a blog of a doctor and his wife serving on staff at a hospital in a village outside the capital city of Malawi. As I scrolled down the page, one post read: Sad news-Triplets now orphaned. I read the post and started to cry uncontrollably  and I felt so sick to my stomach. I had to call someone, but who? Trey was at work and I knew couldn't answer his phone, so I called my dad. What was God showing me? What would Trey think?

I continued to do research on the babies, the hospital, the mother and the family, the orphanage the babies would go to once they gained weight. At this time the triplets are just above 2 pds, they were born later in July, but as much as I knew they were pretty healthy. They do have to reach 5 pds before they can be moved to the orphanage in Lilongwe, Malawi though. And I prayed, prayed, and prayed! I think I honestly can say that I've prayed more in the last few days than ever before...God is using this process to draw us closer to Himself and I pray for that in every situation in our lives, that He would draw us closer to Him than we were yesterday and the day before that.

So, throughout the next couple of days and events God could only orchestrate He was showing us to pursue this. Pursuing this brings me to why I'm sharing this story with you. At the recommendation of our lawyer in Malawi and what God is showing us, I would need to travel to Malawi in the next month or so, to get the ball rolling on that end. Malawi social services, as our lawyer told us, does not really take an American seriously who just calls them about adoption, and it would get us nowhere! Also, they would need to read our preliminary home study file, look at pictures of our home environment, but mainly have that visit marked in with social services is  a HUGE deal, as they control whether your adoption would take 1 month or 18 months.

We were not prepared to hear that I would need to go NOW. We were anticipating me leaving in November, which gave us time to apply for grants and loans, something you can't do until your home study is complete. So, I knew and know this has to be a God-thing. The trip is $2,500 (that's just travel and stay and a bit of gas money), we also need to bring some lawyer fees, which I will know more about today or tomorrow as I am waiting on an email from our lawyer. This doesn't include us putting the girls in daycare for a week because Trey works during the day and lining up individuals to take them in the evening....this is a BIG thing!

I know this post is long, not grammatically correct, but I felt that I needed to share. To share not only where we are in this adoption process, but to share that we could use YOUR help! We need you to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY...pray for the girls, for their well being, for them to continue to take the formula that will help them to gain weight, pray for the orphanage that will take them and the staff there, pray for the social service individuals we'll be working with there (as of right now the girls will be eligible for adoption once they move to the orphanage, but everything could change in an instant there and we have to know that God will continue to open the doors He wants us to walk through and close the ones He doesn't), and pray for us...this is a BIG change, from 1 child to 3 children and by the time they come home they could be as young as 5 months old...that means three 5 month olds, one almost 3 yr old, and one almost 4 yr. old, but we know that God will give us the strength we need-pray that we can adjust well, pray that we know every day what and where God is calling us to, since again Malawi is an unknown and up in the air country when it comes to adoption, we step out on TOTAL FAITH! and pray for your support!

If you haven't already helped with our adoption, would you pray about supporting us? Maybe you have supported us and feel led to give again? Whatever the case, anything and everything is a blessing and will help us get me to Malawi a.s.a.p. So, THANK YOU tose who have supported us and those of YOU who will be, for your sacrifice to take time out of your day to pray for us and/or to give financially to bring our children home that you've never even met.

-One blessed and happy Mommy!

...and then there were 6

That's RIGHT!!!! Pretty soon we'll be a family of 6! What does that mean? Well.....it means we are adopting 2 children from Malawi! Through much prayer and discussion and even more prayer we feel God calling us to adopt two! That's a big change, especially since we haven't identified the children we're adopting yet. So, we are venturing into the unknown, but that is a lot of what adoption is about. We knew that would be the case, so we are just taking it one day at a time, asking God to lead us where He would have us. Right now, He has us waiting patiently on Him. I'll admit that I struggle sometimes in the area of 'patience', but God has really helped me grow in this area throughout the adoption process and I pray He continues to always grow me. As humans, we want things done right now and in the manner we expect them to be done, but the Almighty has bigger and better plans....ALWAYS!


So, let me update you on some more things that are going on right now with us. We sent out our FBI Clearances out on Thursday morning, so they should be receiving them between Tuesday and Thursday next week and then we wait....for 8 weeks! for them to process our information and fingerprints. "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord"  Also, I've been researching orphanages and using my contacts in Malawi to find children eligible for adoption, but I've come up empty...But God knew that on the right day, at the right time, He would show us the children He wants to add to our family. The other night, as I became impatient and frustrated with the fact that we are 3 months away from being able to go to Malawi to pick up our children that haven't even been identified yet, God led me to a website I had never even seen before. Even with all of my long hours of research on orphanages in Malawi, I had never come across this site and when I opened the website, it read, "Want to Adopt?". YES YES YES we do! They have two orphanages, one in Kenya and one in Malawi. I got the contact information for the director of the organization and will contact him first thing Monday morning. Whether this is the orphanage that we adopt from or whether God is leading us to work with this man to find children we can adopt, He will reveal that to us in His timing! I can't say that I'm not excited for that phone call Monday morning, because I AM! But "Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord"


We are so thankful for all who are and have partnered with us, whether through prayer or financially giving bc  it is helping us bring our little ones home! If you are not partnering with us, WILL YOU CONSIDER supporting us through prayer and/or financially giving? Any gift is a gift much appreciated, as adoption (whether domestically or internationally) is costly.


I haven't yet, so let me break down the total cost of our adoption process to Malawi for you:


Home Study Fee (with document fees): $1,950
I-600 A Form, I-600 Form: $1,050
Malawi Lawyer &court costs: $1,500
Documents, Passports & Birth Certificates in Malawi: $200
Flight Costs for bringing our Children home: $2,600
Airfare Costs for my trip to and from Malawi: $1,700
Home Study Fee in Malawi: $200
U.S. Attorney Fee for Legalizing our Adoption (La does not recognize international adoption): $500

Total= $9,700


To date, we have only paid out our Home Study Fees. Again, we have been so blessed by those who have supported us, who have helped us raise close to $400! Thank you!!!!! We look forward to one day sharing with our children, the story of their adoption and how so many helped bring them home, through prayer and financial gifts of support!!!

"God is good all the time

He put a song of praise in this heart of mine

God is good, He's so good

All the time"