Look out immigration....here comes my hubsband!

"Father of the fatherless and protector of widows
is God in his holy habitation." Psalm 68:5

One thing you should know about Chris is that he has a heart for the orphan and poor like I have never seen in a person! Anytime he sees a video or they talk about other countries at our church, I know without a shadow of a doubt that he is crying. I love that about him. His heart literally aches for the nations!! He cries praying for our little girls....but he also loves to play and have fun with these kids. He is so much like Jesus....I wish each of you could get to know him personally. He is God's greatest gift to me!

So, speaking of defending the orphans.....that is what he is doing at 11:30am tomorrow (Wednesday). He is driving by himself (I have to work) to Memphis to meet with an immigration officer. I am so proud of him. It is a cool story how this all happened, but it is too long to write. Let's just say....God brought all of this together. Please be praying that he will walk out of the doors with immigration approval in hand!! Pray that he will get a kind, understanding officer. This could be HUGE!! He is fighting for our daughter(s)!!!

We will post more tomorrow night....stay tuned.

Love you all,
Lindsey

I miss Guatemala...

Don't get me wrong, I love my home in Franklin. I love the comforts of living in the United States. But, there is something magical that happens when I step foot in Guatemala. It is where I am most ALIVE! I am so drawn to the kids. I love to love and hug on them. I love to pray over them even though they don't understand my language. I love singing with them. The Lord reveals Himself to me in ways that astound me every time I'm there.

I am really trying to focus on what the Lord has given to me tonight, rather than on the things that seem impossible. We have still heard nothing from immigration. I will admit, my spirit is low....very low. There is always going to be a struggle in my heart. Faith requires a lot. We have jumped and are not looking back. It is painful....it feels like you can't breathe at times. But, it is defining who we are. So, right now I am choosing to be thankful. Lord, thank you for giving us the privilege of fighting for and pursuing Xiomara and Eliana. You know our hearts. You know how we would LOVE to bring both of them home. They are your kids....You loved them first. Thank you Jesus!

Love you guys,
Lindsey

We are ALL sad!!

Eliana is sad that we have still heard NOTHING from immigration!!

Keep praying.....we have one week until our documents have to be to Guatemala!

Love,
Lindsey

* We have gotten our congressmen and senators involved, but Memphis is not telling them anything either! They are saying they are short on staff. The one good thing is that we DO have our POA....we flew to Guatemala a month and a half ago to take care of that detail.

STILL NOTHING......KEEP PRAYING!

Be praying for immigration approval for us. We can't get any answers. The human side of me is really anxious and sad. But, I do know the Lord knows ALL....it is hard to keep perspective sometimes. Pray for our sweet Eliana....and for our other little love, Xiomara. What a journey we are on....sometimes it feels like a dream. I will let you all know when we hear something.

The Ortega Law was passed on December the 11th. We are still waiting on answers there too....they said that they will grandfather pending adoptions. Who is actually considered a "pending" adoption....are we?? PLEASE LORD LET US BE PENDING!!!!

Keep spreading the word about elliedub.com!!! WEAR YOUR T-SHIRTS AND PRAY FOR THE KIDS IN GUATEMALA (and all over the world)!!

Love you all,
Lindsey

Biblical Hope

"Biblical Hope is the belief that God has not forsaken us."
-Lloyd Shadrach

That's what I'm clutching today...Biblical hope. It's more than just wishing and crossing our fingers. Lindsey found out late last night that TOMORROW (Tues Dec 11) Guatemala is planning to make a statement about who gets to be grandfathered-in and continue in the adoption process. The predominant rumor is that only those cases who are in PGN (a Guatemala specific stage in the process) will be allowed to continue. We are not yet in PGN. We don't know what this might mean. PLEASE PRAY. I just pray "Jesus have mercy." I am confident that we've been following His call in obedience. Our sermon yesterday at church was all about how Risk is involved in Faith- man how we have seen that! If you've read much of our blog you've heard us talk about that! Hope...Risk...Faith...Prayer

I keep thinking of this quote by Brennan Manning
"To live without risk is to risk not living."

And to further quote our pastor Lloyd Shadrach:
“It turns out, living with Biblical hope y'all is riskier than we’ve been thinking about. It will get us into predicaments that we would not choose for ourselves in a million years. It may cost us dearly, in ways that quite frankly we may not be ready to pay...Biblical hope compels us to make risky plans.”

Thank you for praying for Eliana, the many other orphans in peril in Guatemala right now, and for Lindsey and I- that we keep Biblical hope.

-Chris

Happy 5 Months Old Eliana!!

Eliana,

All day today I have missed you so much! Happy 5 month birthday baby girl!! I wish I could be there to kiss and hug you non-stop....and to celebrate you. Know that I am praying and missing you like crazy. I am praying that I can hold you and sing to you soon. I love you. I love you. I love you. You are the most beautiful creation! I love your eyes....they sparkle. I love your smile....it is contagious! I love your personality....I can't wait to watch you grow up. Know that your mommy and daddy are so proud of you. We love you with all of our hearts!!

Love,
Your momma

P.S. This is the picture I fell in love with...your cheeks are the cutest things ever!

Grateful

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." James 1:17

My heart is so full right now! We had no idea what kind of response we would get to Elliedub....but it has blown us away. The Lord is so good....He is the reason we are doing this. The proceeds from the shirt sales are going to our little Eliana's adoption (and we still pray that maybe it will be for Xiomara too). Each shirt that is being bought makes me want to cry because it means that we are that much closer to bringing our precious baby home. Keep spreading the word about the site....post it on your blog! I can't wait until we are able to walk alongside other families going through this process.....creating shirts for their specific countries....and seeing how the Lord will provide for their adoption!

I haven't posted a lot on Eliana's adoption, but I am asking for each of you to PLEASE PRAY for us to hear TOMORROW from immigration. We feel desperate....but I realize that we have no control. I loved what one of my blogger friends said....she pictured Jesus holding her baby in one hand and her paper work in the other. I am really trying to give this to the Lord. Also, please pray for our friends (and partners in Elliedub)....they were supposed to go and pick up their little boy from Guatemala.....and there has been a delay in his birth certificate. I want them to be with him for Christmas....so pray for another miracle.

Love you all,
Lindsey

P.S. The picture is when we were flying into Guatemala City....I love it! I pray I will be sitting on a seat in the airplane soon to pick up or visit Eliana!

Drum roll please.....

We are so excited to tell you all that elliedub.com is officially up and running!!! YEAH!!! I feel so overwhelmed with a thousand emotions right now. I want to thank Scott and Amelia (our partners in this venture).....for working non-stop to make this happen. They are seriously two of the most creative, talented and humble people I know! Thank you Lord for crossing our paths with both of them. They took our vision and made it their own....and ran with it. We are so excited for our site to bring hope to families that are adopting....and to spread the plight of the orphan.

There will be many more t-shirts and new countries to come!!

A side note: The girl's t-shirts are so cute and fitted. A medium is like a small, a large is like a medium, etc... Soon we will be adding cute little kids t-shirts! Each t-shirt has a quote in Spanish.

Please pass this information on to others....spread the word!!!

Love you all,
Lindsey (and Chris)

P.S. There is a lot of updating to do about Eliana. But, would you please pray for a miracle with paperwork. We are fighting being discouraged and fearful!

Elliedub.com

The t-shirts will be on the web-site in the next two days! Thanks for all of your "excited" comments!! Check out a sneak preview at elliedub.com (on the right side of our blog).

On another note, please keep praying for our paperwork to be completed. I can't exlain how much I miss Eliana (and Xio...but hopefully that goes without saying)! It is hard to think about not being with her over Christmas. I am so thankful that she has such an amazing foster family though.....I have never seen one woman smile as much or as big as her foster mom! It makes me smile to watch the video of her smiling at Eliana.

I love you all,

Lindsey

THE T-SHIRTS ARE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, get ready..........because the first round of EllieDub t-shirts came in yesterday!!! THEY ARE AWESOME!!!! I can't wait to post pictures. We will hopefully have www.elliedub.com up and running by the weekend. You can then see the pics of the shirts and order them through paypal or check. Our friends, Amelia and Scott, did an UNBELIEVABLE job on the designs. They are our partners in this new venture. I can't wait to see people wearing the shirts (they would make fun Christmas gifts)!

Love ya'll,
Lindsey