Merry Month of May

I never intended for so much much time to pass between posts. May has been a super busy month here on the farm. I have been juggling many balls and keeping them all in the air has been a challenge. We finally, I hope, answered all the questions and filled out all the forms needed for our home-study. It is currently sitting on someone's desk at the adoption agency waiting on final approval. Please pray that it will be in our hands by the end of the week. As some of you know, I agreed to take on the fancy title of New Horizons for Children Regional Coordinator for China. Kenny teases me about my full time volunteer position on a regular basis. I had no idea about the time commitment that went along with my fancy title. I feel like I lost an entire week in the month of May. The week of the hosting deadline is a blur. I talked to people from New York to California. At one point that week, I was communicating by text, phone conversation, email, and Facebook chatting with six people at one time. My family went on autopilot for a few days. Kenny was also out of town on business that entire week. The dishes and laundry piled up and a few of those days I never made it out of my pajamas. It was one of the best weeks of my life. I made some new friends who share my passion for the least of these. I show God operate in a variety of ways. One of my favorite stories from the week involved an orphan boy named Peter. A grandmother saw his picture and thought he looked like her grandson. Peter is one of our last chance kids due to his age. The grandmother wanted him to have a chance to experience the love of a family. She made a nice donation to help with his hosting fees and and started advocating for a family. In just a few hours, the entire amount needed for his hosting fees had been donated online to NHFC. Peter will be experiencing the love of a family this summer just thirty minutes from my home. The highlight of the week was that we found a host family for every one of the children available for the summer program. If you have not visited the photo listing, that fact might not like seem like such a big deal. If you did visit the photo listing, thank you for praying for the cutie pie with no arms, the children with Down's syndrome, the deaf/mute children, the girl with burn scars covering her face, arms, and legs, the boy with ms who will be wheelchair bound by his mid teens years (and whose life expectancy is mid twenties at best), the kids with various developmental delays, and the healthy older boys and girls. God provided a host family for everyone of them. I went on the interview trip to China, I met each one of them, I prayed and prayed for them by name. There is no way for me to convey to you the feelings that overwhelmed me then and now as I reflect on God's love for the least of these. Our family also experienced some personal adoption issues. I met a set of precious twins while in China. We tried everything possible to be allowed to adopt them at the same time as Nick. Our efforts were fruitless as they were adopted by another family. I am thrilled that they were adopted but heart broken that they will not be living here on the farm. A second adoption issue crept up with an older boy that I loved. His adoptive family ran into some major family emergencies and there was no way for them to complete his adoption before he aged out in November. Kenny and I contacted the adoption agency and offered to adopt him. We were nervous that we would not be able to complete the process before his birthday in November. A good friend of mine who was a head of us in the adoption process stepped forward and her family is adopting him. Our family celebrated a milestone event with our two oldest sons this month. Kevin and Ty graduated from high school this past week. We completed Kevin's adoption from Latvia three and a half years ago. It has taken lots of blood, sweat, tears and prayers for him to accomplish this goal. He has only been speaking English for four years. I am still amazed that Kevin was able to accomplish this goal in such a short period of time. We had several nights of senior projects and studying the last few weeks. Ty's hard work paid off and he graduated Valedictorian of his class. Several days were spent drafting his speech. The biggest blessing of the month as been the addition of a little person to our daily routine. We agreed to help out a family experiencing some family issues and took on the care of a precious little boy. He was injured in an accident and needed to spend time with a family who could attend to his medical needs. His outgoing personality has been the highlight of our days. He has helped us to laugh and not take life quite so serious. He adores the older McDermitt children and the variety of animals who live on the farm. He is a bit bossy and will not let you forget that he is around. He loudly lets you know when an animal is in sight, that he is hungry, that he is thirsty, that he is hot or cold, that he needs to use the rest room, and most importantly that he is done. Snuggling on the couch with a book or plastic dinosaur in hand, has provided many hours of entertainment for all of us. My children have been more than amazing during this entire adventure. The past month has stretched me to a level of exhaustion that I have never known while at the same time moving my relationship with the Lord to a level I never could have imagined. He has been my rock and my refuge in the storm. He has sustained me and energized me. He has loved me and carried me. He has chastised me and blessed me. It has been a roller coaster ride and I am thankful for his constant companionship. This week, I am back in the fundraising mode. We have a yard sale planned for Saturday, adoption puzzle pieces available, a sweet friend hosting an online Avon party, grant writing, and several other things in the works. The thing that keeps me moving is the sweet little voice that I hear coming from a cell phone in China each week that says, "Mother, I love you and I "mess" you too".