Waiting...

Adoption is Full of waiting! Waiting for funding resources, waiting for your home study to be complete, then the waiting to present to 'situations' and waiting to hear if your yes to a situation is a yes or a no back. Of course often after the yes there is more waiting; for the baby to be born, for the birth parents to sign consent papers and last waiting for icpc (the different states involved approving the movement of a child from one state to another for adoption) so you can take your baby home! We have not truly been waiting very long. Our home study went very fast and smooth, then we had some time where things were on hold while we waited for Dave to find a new job. So we have only been officially waiting to be matched with an expectant mom and baby for around a month. Yet I find myself constantly checking my email seeing if there is something possibly about our baby! The first time we were waiting in the adoption journey, we were waiting for our first child. This was hard and draining and we waited over a year and a half to be matched. We had already been waiting close to three years before that for a baby. We also heard many nos saying the birth mom had chosen a different family.
    The reason I am writing this is because since our first journey we have learned and grown so much in our understanding of God's heart for adoption and will for our family. We also have two precious daily reminders running around our house that are living proof, His timing and way of bringing children into our family is So much better than ours. If we had made the plan I'm sure the first baby we heard about we'd have chosen to be our baby. But that would mean Ella wouldn't be singing at my feet and playing with her toys as I write this. Knowing what I know now, I'd go through that wait all over again. It wasn't easy, I would never wish it on anyone but Ella was worth it. She is a gift to our family and such a blessing to many around her.
   Dave and I feel strongly that we are all called to care for the widow and the orphan (James 1:27) which does not mean we are all called to adopt just that we are all called to help the fatherless. We personally feel called to adopt. So this journey we are on is so much more than a desire for another baby in our arms. There could be some brave expectant moms making a selfless decision who need us to walk along side them in prayer support. When we do say yes to a situation it may mean that the baby is not ours but the mom and baby need our prayers and needed to hear our yes to confirm her baby is loved and wanted. Sometimes expectant moms don't have more than one or even one family  to chose from for her baby for various reasons including pregnancy issues, special needs, and race to name a few.  So maybe these brave women just needed our yes and prayers which could mean we'll hear a no  or many nos before our yes. This doesn't mean it's easy to hear no but it isn't just about us. There is a bigger picture that we can not see, but our Heavenly Father sees it. Sometimes  it feels like we are on an emotional roller coaster in this journey. I have blabbed on simply trying to say it can be hard, we can be impatient, but when we hold our baby in our arms it will be so clear that it was all His plan even when we don't see the whole picture.  The whole picture involves so many precious lives that we may never know about. We haven't heard nos yet but we may. I'm writing this also as a reminder for myself when I'm impatient and discouraged, God has our family in His hands and He knows the baby that is our son or daughter.

"Wait on the Lord; be of good courage. And He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!" Psalm 27:14.

Today I needed to be reminded to wait on the Lord because His plan is better. Adoption has already greatly blessed our lives but it is not just about me. It is about so so much more. It is about His love for everyone of us and His redemption which adoption is a true picture of.

I'll finish with this popular verse but that is one I believe helped through the waiting during our first adoption journey and I will cling to again.

"For I know the plans I have for you'" says the Lord , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

His ways, His timing to bring the third baby Lemaster to us will be amazing!!!!!

PS this time around we are starting with Christian Adoption Consultants right away. So we hope not to wait as long as the first time. Their average wait time is between 6-10 months. We were matched with Ella the week after we signed on with them. Which was crazy fast!! If you'd like to know more about adoption please contact me at amyrenee.lemaster@gmail.com

Celebrate!

In Ella's words tonight we "celebrate!" We are so thankful to be able to tell everyone that God has provided as we knew He would. Dave had a second interview today and not long after returning home, in fact as he was telling me about the interview, his phone rang. And it was regarding the job! We were not expecting an answer so quickly but excited to share that Dave will be starting his new position June 30 as Senior Operations Accountant for Hallmark Business Connections. So one of the first people we shared this news with was Katie our adoption consultant (sorry family;) because we were just so excited to tell her we feel we can now officially be back in the adoption process fully and because we love her! Which means we are now at the point where we can be presented to adoption situations. After letting family know the good news we went out for dinner as a family to celebrate!

So now we ask for prayer for our adoption journey, for the birthmom of the baby God has for our family, for our baby, fundraising efforts to be fruitful, and for the transition as Dave starts his new job the end of this month! Thank you for all your words of encouragement, prayers, and giving!


We are collecting and collecting all types of items for our upcoming adoption rummage sale which will be July 10 and 11. More information will come soon!

If you haven't yet and still want to there is time to enter our iPad mini giveaway! Every $5 donated will get one entry and all donations go directly towards our adoption! The Paypal button on the right of this page is for the iPad fundraiser.  If using a mobile device you need to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click view full web version to see the link. Thanks!

A few steps closer to Baby Lemaster which is another thing we are thanking our Heavenly Father for tonight!

iPad Mini Giveaway Fundraiser!!!

Donate to the Lemaster Adoption Fund, every $5 donated will get you one entry to our iPad mini giveaway! The dateline to enter is 3:00 pm on June 15, 2015 and then the winner will be drawn!

Click on the Paypal link on the right of our blog to enter! $5 for every entry you'd like. If you don't have a Paypal account select the credit/debit card option on bottom left of the Paypal page. You can also contact Dave and I to pay with cash or check at amyrenee.lemaster@gmail.com. The iPad mini will be mailed to the winner with free two day shipping! Thank you for your support in bringing home Baby Lemaster!
 See previous post for more of our story.
If you are on a mobile device scroll to bottom of this page and click view web version so you are able to see the donation link;) 

Love,
Dave, Amy, Ella and Emmett

The beginnings of Baby Lemaster's Story

Hello Everyone,
We wanted to provide a way to give updates to everyone as we continue with our adoption journey.  So here's a little background information and an explanation of where we are at.  Those of you who know us, know that adoption was in our hearts before Dave and I were even married.  After struggling through infertility for a few years God brought adoption to our lives sooner than we had planned and His plan Was so much better! We were given the amazing blessing of our daughter Ella in 2012 through adoption.  God used her life to build our passion for adoption even more and we knew after she was born we would grow our family through adoption again. God used her adoption story and  our consultant (we went through and are currently using Christian Adoption Consultants) to also open our eyes to the need for infant adoption in the United States.  So once again we made a plan: we would start the adoption process when Ella turned one, well God had a different and amazing plan! The week after Ella turned one we welcomed our biological son Emmett into our family.  He is also a huge blessing to us.

What a difference a year had made in our family! The last two years we have loved being a family of four but have also felt there is something or should I say someone missing from our family.  So we prayed and prayed about the timing of adopting again. This spring we really felt God's nudging get stronger to start the adoption process to grow our family again.  So here we are: we are home study ready, our profile is ready to be shown to birth moms and we are excited to meet the next member of our family. We have had a set back and currently waiting to present to birth moms til Dave secures employment as his position at work was eliminated last week. We still feel God saying "press on in this battle for life for your baby." That brings us to the fundraising stage!! Adoption is costly but so so worth it. I love this quote;

“My friends, adoption is redemption. It’s costly, exhausting, expensive, and outrageous. Buying back lives costs so much. When God set out to redeem us, it killed Him."

 Derek Loux

We would love your prayer support with us through this journey.  Here are some specific prayer requests: Dave's job search, pray for the birthmom of our baby (for her health, emotions, and that she knows wherever she is we love her already) and for our family as we prepare for all the changes and unknown!

Stay tuned for a fundraiser coming today!