Avery's Baptism!

God is so good!  He has really been working on our little family this year. I'm not sure if I have shared this before, but Avery was the one who first prayed for a sister (with a different skin color) in our home. God used her to encourage us to adopt a daughter from China and she has been one of our biggest supporters on this journey.

God has really worked in Avery's heart the past year. She has a huge heart for others! And loves God with all that she is. About 3 months ago she prayed alone in her room for God to live in her heart and be her Savior. Brad and I were so proud (even though this had nothing to do with us and all with God). Early in May she came to us asking to be baptized. We were shocked! Not because she doesn't love Jesus, but because she is so young. But we meet with the Children's Pastor at Fellowship and he said despite her young age, she was ready.

So this morning we are proud to announce that our sweet daughter Avery Reese was baptized into Christ's family!!!

She had a wonderful turnout of family, friends, and teachers supporting her.

Papa & Mimi

Mrs. Neff & Mrs. Hart 

(Avery's kindergarten teachers)

Mama

Caroline 

(photo bomb courtesy of Hudson)

Addie

(Avery's best friend)

Jack & Cooper Jordan

Piersen

(Avery's classmate)

Brad speaking about Avery and her decision to accept Christ

Washed Clean!!!

So proud of these two!

Mrs. Williams

(Avery's Pre-K teacher)

All of the people that showed up have been a wonderful influence on Avery's life and helped her to this wonderful place. Thank you all for loving on our sweet girl, for showing her God's love daily and for supporting her today.

May Adoption Update

When I first began this blog about 5 years ago, I wanted a catchy name for our blog. I wanted something meaningful and a name that represented our family. So I decided upon a play on our last name and a word that defines our lives....Love. So that is how I came up with "Love for Miles" our blog name. But the other day I was thinking about our adoption and how God is taking us on this incredible journey around the world in order to complete our family; miles and miles away from Arkansas and from our comfort zone. And that got me thinking about our blog name and that we are literally "Love for Miles". God has such a funny sense of humor and insight into our future!


We have recently received some great news on the adoption! We have been approved by Homeland Security to bring a Chinese daughter into the country! We were initially told this would be a 3-6 month process. Just like everything else on this journey so far, things have happened much quicker. It took maybe 2 months! This is one more item to check off our Dossier to China checklist.


Our other exciting news.....we have been approved for a $3000 matching grant from our church Fellowship Bible Church as well as LifeSong for Orphans! So what does this mean? It means we are asking you, our friends and family to help us reach our goal. They will match donations made on our behalf up to $3000 for a total of $6000 towards our adoption costs. Our goal to raise this money is June 30th. So we are asking you to pray for us as we continue to work to bring our daughter home and pray that we can raise this money.  We are also asking you to please consider making a tax deductible donation to help us meet this matching grant and cover the remaining $25,000 adoption expenses to bring our daughter home.


I have added a PayPal button to our blog just for donation purposes. Thank you for joining us and your continued support on our journey!

 

Adoption Thoughts

Brad and I are still pushing on with the adoption paperwork for our Dossier. As we are completing our adoption classes, we are learning a lot about the Chinese culture as well as what to expect once we meet our daughter and bring her home. The more we push forward, the more real our journey becomes. There are many days when I'm frightened about the road ahead and what the future holds for us. Adding a new child to your family is scary and exciting any way you go about it, but I believe international adoption brings different challenges. She will be accustomed to hearing Mandarin nursery rhymes rather than English ones, she will be accustomed to seeing Chinese eyes looking back at her rather than mine, she will be accustomed to Chinese cuisine rather than macaroni and cheese. As silly as it may seem, these are just a few of the things that frighten me.

But....God is my God and he is her God! I know that we have His unending love in common and that alone is enough to bring us together as a family. As frightened as I am at times, I know that God put us on this journey for a reason. So faith will keep me going, despite my (silly) fears.