His Mercies are New....

Today was the day. We were leaving for Guatemala City to leave our friends, Greg and Kathy Brown, as missionaries. We were taking 32 people on a mission trip. But, it didn't happen. I'm sitting at my kitchen table in Alabaster, Alabama typing this. Why? Because a volcano has erupted several times this week, and the ash is still covering the city. So, we wait.

After much time on the phone and even more time in prayer, God made a way where there was no way. NO, Mrs. Turner, we can't get you all on a flight until Wednesday (we're supposed to leave on Saturday). NO, Mrs. Turner, we can't get you all on the same flight. We can break you up into groups of 2. NO, Mrs. Turner, we can't fly you into Honduras...or Belize..or El Salvador. NO! NO! NO! But, God had other plans.

Okay, YES..Mrs. Turner we can fly you into San Salvador the next day but it will cost $4800. NO! NO! NO! We can't afford that!!! We are a ministry...we don't have that much money! But, God had other plans!

JT went to the group and told them the dilemma. One by one they came to us and told us how much they wanted to give. One college student handed me $200 cash....another recent high school graduate emptied his checking account and gave $1000...another one wanted to give $600...and on and on they came. God placed us all in a place of total surrender and submission. Give your all....I want it all. All of you and all that you have.

Then, Delta called back..."Mrs. Turner, I have good news for you. We got you all on the flight to San Salvador. And, we're waiving all the fees!" God made a way where there was no way. God showed Himself strong. He did what ONLY HE could do. He gets ALL the praise. He gets all the glory. We just got to watch Him do it. What a privilege to be His servant. He is worthy of ALL praise!

Good News out of Uganda...

Today we received good news from our friends as well as our adoption agency. Adoptions are proceeding in Uganda after a month long debate about whether children can be adopted fully in the United States. Our adoption agency stated the following:

"Today in Uganda, the chief justice gave judges permission to rule on legal guardianships and state that they understand it is for the purposes of adoption! This should set a precedent for future families; now judges have the confidence to state their complete understanding of the children’s adoption in the US and their dual citizenship status.

Because this happened today, there have been no families yet go through the Embassy. The next step will be ensuring that this statement will align with what the US Embassy will require to issue an immigrant visa for children who have been granted legal guardianship. I will update as we know how the Embassy will view this latest development."

So, now we wait.... Our paperwork has been approved by CIS and we are currently waiting on our referral. The referral will tell us how many children we will be adopting as well as important information on each of them (name, age, gender, medical history, etc). We will not be post any photos of our children but we will have them with us at all times...so feel free to ask to see the latest Turners when we get our referral!

God is the Father to the fatherless! Over the past month (and longer), we have prayed that resolution to this matter. He has shown Himself glorious and faithful. To Him be all the glory!

Enjoying the snow....

For all of my friends up north, it barely snowed. You could even see some parts of the ground...there was only 2 inches on our deck. But, for those of us who live in spring/summer weather most of the year, it was HUGE! If there is even one inkling that a lonesome snowflake may fall, everything (and I do mean everything) will shut down. But hey, no one here dies from the heat (like in Chicago a few years back). We can handle the heat...bring on the beach, the sunshine, the 100 + temperatures and 100% humidity any day. We can take it. But, cold temperatures? snow? We are totally underprepared.

It has now snowed 3 times this winter which is totally contrary to global warming and living in the deep South. But, our kids have LOVED it. It snowed just last night (a thundersnow) and it was amazing. We are reminded each time of how great our God is to send us snow. He is Sovereign and amazing! Just thought I'd post a few pics of our kiddos enjoying the snow!

Adoption Update

We officially started the adoption process in September. It has definitely been easier so far just because we don't have to get every single piece of paperwork notarized....and in turn, get the notary verified by the county...and in turn, get the county notary notarized by the state. So, the paperwork process has been a cinch!

We turned in our official home study in December, and it was sent to the Alabama DHR at the beginning of January. It is only the first week of February, and our home study is already at CIS in Atlanta. That was quick! We anticipate the CIS approval process to take 3 months, but timelines are always questionable.

Every day we pray for our child/children wherever they are right now. We pray that God will prepare his/her/their hearts to be a part of a forever family. May God give us the patience to wait on His timing and to know that He is in total control.

Uganda Unites!

We have officially finished our home study, and we are beyond excited about what God is going to do with our family in 2010! In the past few weeks, we have "found" 5 other families at our church and 2 others in our area who are adopting from Uganda! All of us, except one, are at the exact same stage of the process!

Isn't God amazing to bring us all together for sharing information but more importantly encouraging one another on the journey! I've been awed by how He has orchestrated a union among these families that only comes from Him. I'm honored to be part of such a group.

I am so thankful to our Lord who has a plan that is far bigger than I could ever have imagined! God is good!

Disney Vacation

We feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to spend a week at Disneyworld. It was a wonderful time for the entire family. Being Jett's first time, we were all eager to see how he would react to the characters and the rides...it was everything we hoped for and more.

First, we discovered that there was a cheerleader competition at WDW while we were there....they seemed to overtake the resort where we were staying...Port Orleans Riverside. The cheers were everywhere and the noise was a little much for all of us. Upon calling to request a quieter room, we were told that we would get a call back within an hour. So, we continued our day at Epcot and received a call about an hour later. They upgraded us to a very nice room in The Contemporary. Woo-hoo! What a blessing. It was a much larger room and the amentities were amazing.

We rode every ride possible (most of them more than a few times), saw many shows and met lots of characters. Kaitlyn's favorite ride is Mt. Everest and we enjoyed it in the rain! She also met Marie, her favorite cat, in France (in Epcot) one day which was a huge surprise. Madison loves Cali River Rapids, so we all rode it with ponchos on...twice! JT got soaked both times... Jett loved Toy Story Mania and Buzz Lightyear the most. He fell in love with Mary Poppins and Cinderella.....gotta watch that boy!

Kaitlyn was able to celebrate her 13th birthday while we were there as well. What a treat to get Happy Birthday wishes everywhere we went. We at breakfast at Chef Mickey's, lunch in France and dinner at The California Grill (watching the fireworks high above the castle). What a beautiful day!

Plenty of pictures were taken and we enjoyed every minute of it! What a huge blessing!

School Pics and Adopting Again!

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All of the kiddos had their school pictures taken yesterday. What a joy to see the blessings that God has given to our family. And speaking of blessings, we are about to increase the size of them....we are adopting again.

As soon as we brought Jett home in January of 2008, we knew that God was calling us to adopt again. So, we have started the process again with Lifeline and will be adopting through Lifeline. We are almost finished with our home study now and the next step is the referral. We'll just be in waiting mode..... It's so different this time because Uganda uses English as its official language so there is no translation involved. The paperwork is easier because everything doesn't have to be notarized twice.

We will have to stay in Uganda for 30 days, but our family is ready for that. Everyone will go together, and depending on the time of year, JT may or may not have to come back to the US during the process. Our entire family is excited about the possibilities! We don't know how many children, the gender or ages. We are trusting God for His Sovereignty in that area!