New name and birthday. One step closer to home!

“How’s the adoption going?!” I hear this question several times a week! I know I haven’t posted in a while so this post is going to be my attempt to fill you in on our life and adoption! First of all, life in Louisville is going well. After being here for 7 months we are finally feeling settled and like this is home instead of an extended mission trip. Our church has offered us a loving community of prayer and support. We are thankful for these people! Kevin and I have been sick this week. I have been much worse than him and we had to cancel our trip to TN. I was sad that we didn’t get to spend time with family and that we wouldn’t have a Thanksgiving dinner. A sweet family from our church heard that we were sick and at home so they lovingly shared their meal with us! We were certainly thankful for their generosity! 

Kevin & I at Carlisle's Trunk or Treat! So fun!

E is doing very well in his Jumpstart program at the orphanage. He is learning basic English and phrases to help with his transition to our family in America. His teacher sends us progress reports and always says that E is keeping up very well with his class. It is so wonderful that our agency offers this program to children 3+ who are being adopted. The children are learning about what it means to be adopted into a new family. I have been praying for our little guy everyday that he will fall in love with us just like we have fallen in love with him. Another family with our agency was weeks away from traveling to pick up their daughter. They lovingly offered to bring E a package from us! I was able to put together a small backpack full of clothes, toys, photo album, and a letter. My heart is full of joy knowing that E will have this package in the next couple days! This family is in the DRC right now bonding with their new daughter! Pray for them! We have recently sent in official paperwork to change E’s name to permanently be Weldon. Also, it’s been surreal trying to choose a birthday for our little guy! He was abandoned so we needed to choose a birthday so he can get a birth certificate and passport. 

The care package that E will receive in the next couple days!

We bought E a set of bunk beds from a sweet family here in Kentucky for an awesome deal! When Kevin and I were setting up these beds in E’s room I started to laugh and told Kevin that it was weird that the entire time we were in our adoption we imagined setting up a crib in this room. Now, we are setting up a room for a little boy who can walk, and talk, and say Mommy and Daddy. Kevin laughed and said, “We are crazy!” We are crazy! Crazy for this little boy who has been ordained to be a Weldon by our Heavenly Father. This is the child we have prayed for. We continue to pray for an infant from the DRC to fill a crib in our house. The Lord has perfect timing and we know He will provide according to His Will. Pray for our children! Pray that we can travel soon to rescue them! We will update everyone on possible travel plans soon! 

E's awesome bedroom!
Many bedtime stories will be read here!

Give 1 Save 1: Scott Family

Let me tell you guys that this family is a precious family! The Scotts were members at our former church in Tennessee. We loved spending time with Dwane and Ginger and their funny and energetic girls! They are adopting a little boy from Ethiopia. They don't know how old he will be or what he looks like but he will be LOVED! This precious family is being featured on Give1Save1.blogspot.com this week. The idea behind Give 1 Save 1 is for everyone to donate $1 towards the Scott's adoption fund to help offset some of the cost of the adoption. Not everyone can donate $500 but everyone can donate $1.00! Watch their video and donate what you can to this sweet family! Your kindness and giving hearts will help an orphan boy on the other side of the world come home to arms of love. Get the word out and support the Scotts! 

Click here to DONATE! 

WE HAVE ACCEPTED A REFERRAL!!!

The entire time we have been on this adoption journey we have known that it would be a possibility for us to adopt 2 children. Quite honestly, we knew that this option was “out there” but I guess we never expected it to actually happen. Our agency contacted us in August about adopting a 3 year old healthy boy while awaiting the referral of an infant. We prayed about it for a couple weeks. We applied the same 3 questions that we worked through when we began the adoption journey. Those questions were, “Does this glorify God?, Does this make me look more like Jesus? And Does this help others see God’s truth?” The answers that we found were, YES, YES, and YES! We emailed our agency and within a matter of a couple days we received the information for this 3 year old boy. Kevin and I waited to open the referral together while our friends Brad and Elicia recorded and photographed this awesome moment! 

Opening E's referral! 

E was found in the capital city of the DRC abandoned and has been in his current orphanage since May. We are so thankful that we have accepted his referral and that he is our son and permanently a Weldon. He is healthy and handsome and smart. We have enrolled him in a program called Jump Start at the orphanage. This program is for children 3 years old+ who are being adopted. They are learning basic English and what life in America will be like. Also, they are receiving counseling on what it means to be adopted and what to expect. We have received a couple progress reports on how E is doing in his classes. His teacher says he is doing well in school and that he is a very smart little boy. Our agency (Children of All Nations-CAN) has been awesome every step of the way and we are blessed to have chosen them! It is easy to get frustrated with timelines, contracts, and adoption unknowns but our hope is in the Lord! We have confidence and assurance that we have made the right decision with our agency! For more info on CAN then click here for our review! 

Here are a couple cool stories about how E's story coincided with ours! 

*We received a $3,000 matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans! May 12 and 13, 2012 on Mother’s Day weekend we received word that we exceeded our Lifesong goal by over $2,000!!! Read the blog post from that weekend here! This mean’t that we had received all the funds we estimated we needed to complete our adoption. E came to the orphanage that same weekend. Coincidence?! Nope! It was God! 

*Kevin and I received our monthly email update from our agency about how the DRC program was going, etc. Our adoption counselor attached a couple photos of the children at the orphanage. Kevin and I both looked at a little boy in these photos and were immediately in awe of how precious he was. We talked about how cool it would be to have a little guy like him running around our house! When we opened our referral of E we immediately recognized that HE was the little boy we were so in LOVE with in that email update! Coincidence!? Nope! It was God! 

We will are still awaiting a referral of an infant from the DRC. We have been told that we will probably travel twice. Once to get E and once to get our baby! We will be fundraising again for our second set of travel fees! Please pray that we receive an infant referral soon along with God’s continued financial provision! Pray for E's health, safety, and transition! We are excited to be parents of this sweet boy! 

God can move mountains! Total: $33,068

So, if you read my last blog post then you can see that life for the Weldons has been a little bit crazy and busy but good nonetheless! God has been doing some seriously awesome things and we are so blessed by his goodness and kindness towards us. We have gotten past the busyness of summer and now we should be able to catch our breath. I know that I haven’t posted very much onto our blog so I am going to try to make up for lost time!

God has been so kind to us and we are so blessed by his constant provision. We have seen God move mountains in this adoption process! Do you want to know how much he has provided since we began this process in October 2011?!? Drum roll please......$33,068. We believe that this is all the money we need to bring home our child or children!! When I calculated the total I cried! This is another confirmation that God is orchestrating this adoption for His glory and His purpose! We thank the Lord for all the generous donations and for the grants we have been approved for! I am reminded that God is faithful and good despite difficulties in life. One of the hardest things for Kevin and I was making the decision to move to KY. We had a comfortable life with good jobs, friends, and family. Our church was great. Our needs were provided for. We had an awesome support system that supported us in our adoption. We left not because there was anything wrong but because we felt the Lord calling us out of our comfort zone. We knew that moving would be difficult and that ministry would look significantly different than what we were used to. We went from living in a small rural town to living in the city. Over the past few months God has taught us so much about following him. Being a follower and not just a fan. Francis Chan said this,"Following Christ isn't something that can be done halfheartedly or on the side. It is not a label we can display when it is useful. It must be central to everything we do and are." It is our prayer that we live life completely sold out to Christ. We pray that we pour out our lives for Christ’s namesake. There are people all around us who are in need. Helping to feed and clothe these people only minister to their physical need. Their greatest need is spiritual. They need Christ. They need to know the love, peace, forgiveness, and redemption that can only be found in Christ. We know that our love for Christ will eventually carry us overseas to Africa to meet our child. The child that God has ordained to be a Weldon will be safe in our arms. A once orphaned child will be rescued and carried to safety and peace. The life of a true believer is lived out of gratitude for what Christ has done for them. I was once an orphan. Poor, dirty, and hungry. Jesus poured out His life to feed and clothe me. We pray that we would be a reflection of Christ as we live here in Kentucky and travel overseas to bring home our child. 

Our church went to Churchill Downs to serve dinner to 150+ workers.
We had a ton of fun hanging out and serving!

Fun scrapbooking with some of the girls at church!

WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS RIGHT NOW:

OUR HOME STUDY ADDENDUM IS COMPLETE AND WE HAVE RECEIVED OUR APPROVAL FROM IMMIGRATION FOR OUR NEW ADDRESS. WE WILL CONTINUE TO WAIT FOR A REFERRAL! PRAY THAT GOD WOULD KEEP OUR CHILD SAFE FROM DISEASE, HUNGER, AND HARM. 

What’s Happening with the Weldons?

It’s been a while since my last blog post! The last couple months have been nonstop and it doesn’t look like it will slow down until summer comes to an end.  We have done 3 summer camps in 5 weeks and right now we are in the middle of the 3rd. We are in South Carolina at Camp Bob Cooper fellowshipping with some fun adults and students. I am so proud of my husband and the awesome job he is doing in his nightly sermons. We pray that the Lord’s Word penetrates the hearts of the students and that they would consider Jesus! 

It’s been a busy time trying to balance family, summer camps, church, and daily life. In the last couple months we have had family visit us in KY, a couple family emergencies, 3 trips to TN, 3 summer camps, a wrecked vehicle, a home study addendum, our adoption counselor changed, we received over $11,000 as a result of our Lifesong fundraiser, we were approved for a $4,000 grant from Show Hope, and we have had a ton of activities that go along with church! We are exhausted but we know that God is working in our lives so we cling to him! There have been plenty of times that I have had some great things to share but I have failed to make it to the computer! 


One highlight of the last couple months was being able to meet a sweet couple in Louisville that adopted two boys from the Congo. It was the neatest experience and a total God hug! We went to a restaurant with some friends after church a few Sunday’s ago and the couple seated next to our table had their 2 Congo babies with them. I was able to talk to their mother and ask her questions. My heart melted when I was able to hold one of their sweet children. He was beautiful! I just keep thinking, “They’re real! Congo children really do exist!” It was the ray of hope and encouragement that I needed that week. Sometimes the adoption process is so difficult because it almost seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. We have no photo, no gender, and no due date. Many times I think about this stuff when my heart isn’t fixed on Christ and I start to doubt. I become forgetful of the promises of God. That random meeting of that dear couple and their sweet children was just the kick in the rear that I needed to turn to Christ and say “Thank you.” Thank you for choosing us for this journey. Thank you for providing. Thank you for loving me so deeply that you would orchestrate a totally random meeting so I could hold a real life baby from the Congo. So, fellow adoptive mothers, don’t lose hope! Don’t forget the blessing of the journey! Fall into the lap of your Heavenly Father and be reminded of Isaiah 40: 31, “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Kevin and I with his nephew, Jacob.  

Kevin and I with his brother, sister, and nephew.  

Kevin's wrecked truck.
We were attacked by a gate during a storm! :(

Ladies Night at Carlisle making bears for
Operation Christmas Child boxes!

Carlisle Avenue student camp!

The girls of Gum Springs student camp!

Kevin speaking in S.C. for Pray's Mill Baptist Church. 

Me hanging out next to the lake in South Carolina!

WHERE WE ARE IN THE ADOPTION PROCESS RIGHT NOW:

OUR HOME STUDY ADDENDUM IS COMPLETE AND WE WILL SUBMIT OUR ADDENDUM TO THE USCIS FOR APPROVAL. WE ARE CURRENTLY WAITING FOR A REFERRAL WHICH IS SAID TO BE 6-12 MONTHS. WE HAVE ALREADY BEEN WAITING 4 MONTHS! PRAY THAT THE LORD’S FAVOR FALLS ON OUR PAPERWORK AND THAT WE WOULD RECEIVE A REFERRAL SOON!

Lifesong Fundraiser Final Total....$5,414!

Did you read the title of this blog post!? Can you believe it!? Our original goal was $3,000. God totally blew that goal out of the water when he abundantly exceeded that goal by over $2,000!! When I received the final total I was absolutely speechless at God's kindness towards us. The beautiful thing about God's sweet heart is that He allowed us to learn of our grand total over Mother's Day weekend. Mother's Day has not been an easy day to endure the last couple years. Walking through the halls of church on Mother's Day  knowing that there would be cheerful "Happy Mother's Day" chatter always made my heart hurt. I knew that none of those "Happy Mother's Day" greetings would be given to me. This year was different. I don't have a child to hold in my arms but I am a mother. I am a mother to a little brown baby in Africa. I don't know their face. I don't know what they sound like when they laugh. And I don't know if they will be a boy or a girl. But I do know that the beautiful creator of the universe has provided the money we need to bring them home. He has allowed me to experience a sweet part of His heart for orphans. He has grown my faith. He has held my heart when I celebrate the pregnancies of dear friends. He has confirmed time and time again that He has a plan for Kevin and I. That plan doesn't look like what we imagined but nonetheless it's beautiful. The generous and sacrificial giving of our friends, family, and church is greatly appreciated and we could never express our gratitude. Thank you so much for your continued support and the eternal impact you are making in the life of our African child. Lifesong will match our total up to $3,000 and another donor is going to give $3,000 as well! So, let's do the math! $5,414 + $3,000 + $3,000= $11,414!! A little over a month ago we estimated that we still needed about $11,000 to pay the remaining adoption and travel fees. We joyfully celebrate and send God the glory for providing this money! 

I wanted to share this video with you of a dear couple who adopted their little boy from Ethiopia! Here's their video when they met him.  Every time I watch it I get so excited that we will get to experience the same joy! Check out their blog and help them bring home Baby #2 from Ghana! 

WHERE WE ARE IN THE PROCESS RIGHT NOW:

WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF UPDATING OUR HOME STUDY SINCE WE MOVED FROM TN TO KY. OUR AMENDED HOME STUDY SHOULD BE COMPLETED IN THE NEXT MONTH. WE ARE CURRENTLY WAITING FOR THE REFERRAL OF A CHILD. HOPEFULLY IT WON'T BE LONG TILL WE CAN SEE THE FACE OF OUR CHILD. 

Drum roll please....Lifesong running total $2813.06

The final day of our Lifesong matching grant is approaching on May 14th and it looks like we are going meet our $3,000 goal!! Right now the running total is $2813.06! At this moment, Kevin and I are full of thankfulness and gratitude towards the families that have given towards our adoption! We are so thankful for those of you that continue to pray for the protection of our Congo baby. Thank you for supporting us and loving us when it seemed like all hope was lost. Our faith is stronger because of our brothers and sisters in the faith. God has proven himself faithful time and time again. Sometimes I plop down on the couch at night with an empty heart and deep longing to meet our sweet brown baby. I ask the Lord why it's so hard to wait. But, the Lord hugs my heart and grants me the patience to continue to wait. In the waiting I meet the heart of God. In the waiting my faith builds. In the waiting my love for this child grows deeper. In the waiting my husband supports and gently loves me. When we travel across the world to gather our child into our arms we will see the glorious heart of God in our child's face because we had to wait. I praise the Lord for the path he has chosen for us! Our "plan" was gloriously ruined. Ruined only to be built back better.

Click here to see how you can help us meet our

$3,000 Lifesong goal by May 14th! 

WOW! Lifesong total so far.....$2238.06!

God's kindness and faithfulness continues each day! His beauty and love shines in our lives each moment! We are so excited to share that our total for our Lifesong matching grant is.....$2238.06! The donations have continued to flow in and we are excited to see how much more God provides for our grant! Each dollar brings us one step closer to our baby! May 14th is the last day for Lifesong to accept donations for our family! Please consider helping us reach our $3,000 goal. Once we reach this goal then Lifesong will give $3,000 and another matching donor will give $3,000! We deeply appreciate those of you who have already given to our adoption fund. Our hearts are so full of gratitude because of each family's generous and sacrificial gift. Your support is making an eternal impact in the life of the child that God has chosen to be our son or daughter. Even though we have never seen or met this precious African child we know that God is hand picking him or her. We are so grateful and privileged to experience God's special heart towards the orphans of the Congo. Click here to see how you can donate to our Lifesong Grant! 

I love everything Africa!

God is Good! Lifesong Grant total so Far! $1984.74

Seriously, can I brag on my God a little bit right now!?? Our grand total right now for our Lifesong Matching Grant is $1984.74! We are a little over a thousand dollars shy of our $3,000 goal that ends May14th! Praise the Lord God Almighty for His loving kindness and mercies! So.....when we reach this $3,000 goal then that means Lifesong will give us $3,000 and then our matching donor will give us $3,000 so that is a total of $9,000 towards our adoption!!! My heart is so full of joy and thankfulness because the Lord has chosen Kevin and I to grow our family by adopting a sweet child from Africa. There have been so many times in the last few months that Kevin and I have looked at each other and laughed and said, "What in the world are we doing?" Maybe we aren't sure about a whole lot in our lives right now but there is one thing we know for sure. We know that God is Good and that He has a plan for us! We know that He is worth our time, our lives, and our energy. So, all the chips are on the table and we are ALL IN! Please pray for us and our sweet African babe. Pray that God provides the rest of the money we need to meet our matching grant goal!

I found this video on another adoption blog! I thought it was so cute! It made me want a sweet and sassy little brown skinned girl! :) 

  

God is faithful, and He is still Good! 

Matching Donor for Lifesong Matching Grant!

Recently Kevin and I relocated to Louisville, KY. We live two exits from the airport in Louisville. There are times that we see and hear planes taking off to travel to their next destination. The other morning I woke up around 5 am to the sound of planes taking off. There were several planes that left in that early hour. I laid in bed and joyfully began to think of what our lives will be like when we bring home our little one from the Congo. I thought about how crazy it is that sometime this next year we will be boarding a plane in the Louisville airport to travel to get our son or daughter! We will be literally flying over our childless home and returning with our arms full and our hearts joyful! 

Kevin and I are so thrilled to announce that God has provided for this adoption once again!! If you have read our last blog post then you have learned that we have been approved for a $3,000 matching grant through Lifesong for Orphans. We have been approached by another donor that has agreed to match the donations that are given to Lifesong for our adoption! So, if we raise $3,000 towards the Lifesong grant then Lifesong will give us $3,000 and our donor will give us $3,000!! That would be a total of $9,000 towards our adoption! We are absolutely floored at God’s kindness towards us. He continues to encourage us and confirm time and time again that He is faithful and that He has a plan for us! Please click here to learn how you can donate to our Lifesong matching grant due May 14th! 

We love you guys and we are so thankful for the wonderful support system God has given us!

$3,000 Lifesong Matching Grant!!

Wow! Awesome news is that Kevin and I have been approved for a $3,000 matching grant from Lifesong for Orphans! When we received word that we were approved for this awesome opportunity we were right in the middle of our relocation to Louisville, KY! It has been crazy trying to make a new house our home and also work on adoption fundraising! The way this matching grant works is that we send out letters and use every social media network to promote this fundraiser! Lifesong has agreed to match up to $3,000 towards our adoption. So....if we raise $3,000 then they give us $3,000!!!! That’s $6,000 total towards our adoption! The heavy price tag of $6,000 is the exact amount that we must pay to the Congo when we accept the referral of a child! After this payment to the country then all that remains is our travel costs! We have come a long way since we begun the adoption process in October. God has provided every bit of the money we have needed to continue in the adoption process to bring home our precious child from Africa! Looking back over the past several months has proven the truth of Ephesians 3:20 that says that God is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think according to the power at work within us!! This scripture could not be more true! It’s hard to believe that Kevin and I weren’t sure if God was calling us to adopt 6 months ago! Now, we cannot imagine our lives without a sweet brown skinned baby! If we would not have accepted God’s call on our lives then we would not have been able to experience this special heart of God towards the orphans of the world. Our hearts are full and grateful! 

Here’s where you are able to help us!! Would you be willing to make a donation towards our matching grant? The due date for all Lifesong donations is May 14, 2012 so we desperately need your help! All donations are tax deductible and Lifesong will match every donation dollar for dollar! 


You can make checks payable to:

Lifesong for Orphans

Po Box 40 

Gridley, IL 61744

Please write our family reference number in the Memo of your check: Weldon #2638

Click here to make an online Paypal donation to Lifesong for our grant! (Please reference: Weldon #2638)

If you are unable to give financially then please partner with us by praying for God’s provision and protection of our child! Pray for the salvation of the birthparents. Pray that we would be able to be united with our child soon! Share our blog and story with others so that we may be an encouragement to them! 

P.S. COMING SOON!
We will soon be posting about our relocation and new ministry in Kentucky! 

What's happening with the Weldons!?

Wow! If you read my last post then you learned that life with the Weldons is crazy! We have been packing up our home in TN and preparing our home in KY. Our first day in our new home in Louisville is April 7th. Kevin's first Sunday at our new church is Easter! Over the past 4 weeks we have been saying our goodbyes to our family and friends and tying up lose ends with our relocation. Our last day at Gum Springs was March 25. Kevin has served at this church for over 9 years and I have been there for the past 7 years we have been married. There were some laughs and a few tears as we listened to the testimonies of 5 dear friends. I started at Gum Springs when I was 19 years old. Now, I am 27. The people of this church have wrapped their arms around us in our joy and in our pain. When I started at Gum Springs I was a teenager who was engaged to their youth pastor. They welcomed me with open arms and the Godly women of this church showed me how to be a woman of character, wisdom, and peace. These women taught me how to be a wife and mother. Honestly, I probably wouldn't know how to cook one thing if they wouldn't have sat down with me and taught me. One particular lovely lady would sit with me and give me recipes. She would go through every single step and she would encourage me to try new things! I am forever grateful for her grace and patience with me! They showed me Godly parenting, marriage, and unshakeable faith. I am a better woman because of the time these people invested in my husband and I. Thank you to Gum Springs for your kindness and your faithfulness to the Lord. This is the church where Kevin and I learned to be adults and we praise the Lord for such a wonderful church family! We pray the Lord's blessing on Gum Springs and we are so excited at what the Lord has next! He is working! He has made us excited to minister in Louisville with so many more wonderful and Godly men and women! 

Some of the students that have been part of our youth ministry at Gum Springs.
We had fun laughing and hanging out at lunch! 

WHERE WE ARE IN OUR ADOPTION PROCESS:

RELOCATING TO ANOTHER STATE WILL NOT AFFECT OUR WAIT FOR A REFERRAL. WE WILL NEED TO UPDATE OUR HOME STUDY AND WE HAVE AN AGENCY THAT WILL COMPLETE OUR UPDATE AS SOON AS WE GET SETTLED IN OUR NEW HOME. OUR WAIT TIME IS APPROXIMATELY 5-11 MONTHS FOR A REFERRAL. KEEP PRAYING THAT GOD WILL PROTECT OUR BABY AND THAT OUR PAPERWORK WOULD FIND HIS FAVOR AS IT IS IN AFRICA. 

Following Christ with EVERYTHING

It has been a while since my last blog post!!! Goodness, so much has happened since then! I will try to fill you in without rambling too much! The last several weeks have been a whirlwind of just Life! Kevin turned 30, our dossier reached the Congo, we got our fingerprints made for our immigration paperwork, had a HUGE fundraiser week with Give1Save1.com, Kevin accepted another position in a church in the city of Louisville, KY, we told our friends, family and church that we are moving, and we are packing up our belongings to move another state in the next 4 weeks!!! Are you getting a glimpse of the last few weeks in the Weldon household? Needless to say, this month has been a mixture of emotions!

On February 17 we received word from our agency that our dossier reached the Congo and they are actively trying to find us a referral! That news was so incredible and so exciting and my heart was bursting! Then….we were notified that our next payment was due to our agency for $3500! EWW! We did not have the money BUT God’s perfect timing came into play AGAIN! Our fundraising week with Give1Save1.com went from Feb 26-March 3rd. We prayed that the Lord would provide the money we needed to send to our agency! Once our story was posted on the website we had a flurry of donations and after it was all said and done our total was…….$1726! With the money we already had in our adoption account and our Give1 money we were just a few hundred dollars short of the $3500. And then...God did it again! We opened a letter from the Southern Baptist Minister Grant we applied for! There it was! A check for $500! YES!!! We also got our immigration approval for our government last week! So, we are able to send in our $3500 payment and our immigration stuff this week!! Also, we have received another $500 in donations from some very special students and families!! Seriously God is so GOOD. This is the God we serve. A God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6). He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think!” Ephesians 3: 20. Can I get an AMEN??!!

Another major thing in our lives right now is the fact that we are moving to Kentucky! Kevin was presented with an opportunity to serve at a church in Kentucky with our good friend Brad Walker. I have blogged about Brad and his wife Elicia before! They adopted their youngest son domestically. After much prayer we decided that God would be glorified for us to step out on faith and follow Him. It has been very hard to decide to leave our current church because, honestly, we are very happy and we LOVE the people. Through prayer and scripture we really felt like God was telling us to Go and Follow Him like Abraham and Sarah. Don’t Worry! This move will not affect our adoption timeline for a referral. We will have to get an updated home study and our immigration stuff will need to get updated. Since we are on a 6-12 month referral wait then we will have plenty of time to get everything settled and updated! So…praise the Lord! We have already learned that His timing is perfect so we are excited to see how He works everything out for His glory! Just pray that we will continue to trust and follow the Lord with all our hearts! This quote from Katie Davis from the Book, Kisses from Katie, hit me like a ton of bricks! She says, " I have learned along my journey that if I really want to follow Jesus, I will go to the hard places." Following Jesus won't always be easy but obedience is Always Best!

WHERE WE ARE IN THE ADOPTION PROCESS:

WAITING FOR A REFERRAL! 6-12 MONTHS IS THE AVERAGE WAIT TIME BUT WE ARE PRAYING FOR A SPEEDY REFERRAL! 

The Beauty of God's Love

Galatians 4:4-7

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.

Wow, when I read this passage today it absolutely pierced my heart! Kevin and I have been so blessed by experiencing the heart of God through our adoption. Our relationship with God will never be the same now that we’ve tasted and seen His beauty through our adoption journey. We know that with any adoption there are going to be times of waiting and waiting and more waiting. Now that we are at the beginning of the referral process I get anxious because I don’t know how long it will be before we can travel to Africa to scoop up or child in our arms and call them son or daughter. This scripture is so beautiful because it says “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son” and it reminds me of God’s absolute perfect timing. God knew the perfect time to send our Savior to rescue us. Jesus came “so that we might receive adoption as sons.” God has known the right time for us to receive our much awaited child. At the right time, we will rescue a Congolese orphan and they will become part of our family. God’s Word also says that ‘because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba, Father”’. HE is my Father and I am HIS daughter!! I can call out to Him and I am “an heir through God.” I am rescued and adopted and I am a child of the Living God! We love our child in Africa so deeply. I cannot imagine what our lives would be like if we would have never stepped out on faith to pursue adoption. The beauty and peace we have experienced leaves me speechless and fills my heart with joy. Pray for a speedy referral and continued financial support!

P.S. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU FOR ALL THE GIVE 1 SAVE 1 VISITORS AND SUPPORTERS! WE ARE ABSOLUTELY BLOWN AWAY AT HOW GIVING EVERYONE HAS BEEN! PLEASE CONTINUE TO HELP US SPREAD THE WORD TO DONATE $1. 

Give 1 Save 1! Donate $1 to our adoption fund!

Greetings to our friends, family, and new visitors! We have been selected to be the 'featured family' of the week with Give1Save1.com! Click here to learn more about their awesome ministry! We are the Weldons and we are so glad that you have visited our blog to learn more about us! We are adopting from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and we are currently waiting to receive a referral of a child! Kevin and I have chosen adoption to be the way that we grow our family. We truly believe that adoption is a beautiful display of the Gospel of Christ!  As Christians, we all have our own adoption story. It is a beautiful story of how our loving God adopted us as His children. We were orphans destined for death but God chose us to be His children and He placed us in His family through Christ. Ephesians 1:5 says, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.” It is our desire to rescue and adopt a child into our home.   We believe that God will make us a family Forever by Grace!

Please watch our adoption video!

Please consider helping us bring home our child by praying for us and helping us financially! Donating $1 will go a long way! God's kindness towards us continues to overwhelm us as we continue on this adoption journey! We wanted share some of our adoption pictures with you in anticipation of our arriving bundle of joy!

                                                        

Questions, Answers, & Encouragement

I have recently met a very special friend via Pinterest and I was delighted to answer a few questions she had for me. I wanted to share this Q & A session with you because I hope it helps my fellow sisters know more about the gift of adoption and more about our story.

Q: How did you and your husband decide that adoption was for you? How did you decide that would be the path to start your family and not another? 
A: We asked God to help us decide if we needed to go to more extensive measures of conceiving. The more I looked into the options the more uneasy I felt about putting my body through different treatments and spending more money visiting doctors and clinics. Honestly, I just felt emotionally spent. I didn’t feel like I had enough energy in me to go through fertility treatments. We knew that we wanted a baby. We knew that having a biological baby would be costly from doctor visits and fertility treatments. We prayed and we came up with 2 solutions: 1) We could pour our time, energy, and finances into fertility treatments that could be unsuccessful or 2) We could take those same resources and pour them into rescuing a child from a desperate situation (this option would without a doubt result in us being parents). All of this led us to researching adoption and foster care more extensively. I quickly decided that foster care would not be something that I would be able to do. I believe that it would absolutely rip my heart out every time we would have to give a child back to their parents or the foster care system. Foster care parents are truly gifted by God to fulfill this call on their lives. I just knew that it wouldn’t be something I could handle! We decided that adoption would be the way we would grow our family. We looked at agencies, countries, domestic or international, cost, etc.

We saw that adoption cost SO much money! Honestly, it sort of made me depressed because I began to wonder if I would ever be a mommy! We just began to pray about the cost b/c there were some points where we also decided that adoption was too much for us. The beautiful thing that we began to see was that it was costly for us to become part of the family of God. It cost God His son, Jesus. There was a price that needed to be paid to rescue us and unite us with our Father. Jesus paid that price and we are able to have full fellowship with our Father and we are His children. After much research we found that there are many many ways to fundraise, receive donations, and apply for adoption grants and interest free loans.

We found that God was glorified in every aspect of adoption. We have confidence that if we are following Christ with all of our hearts then He would lead and guide our paths (Prov. 3:5-6). In light of all of these things we found in scripture, we decided we would adopt a child no matter what the cost. This process has been so absolutely beautiful and faith building and my heart is full of joy and peace! Now that we are on the other side of the paperwork and we are waiting to see our child’s face I know that I wouldn’t trade in this experience for anything!  So far, God has provided all the money we need for this stage in our adoption journey and he continues to bless us every week! Just last week my husband found a $600 anonymous donation on his desk at work. Every time we get another donation I am reminded of God’s absolute provision and love for not only us but for the child he has chosen to be in our family! We have applied for 3 grants so we will see what happens in the coming months! :)

Q: Which agency did you guys go with? Do you have any suggestions in that aspect?
A: We chose to work with an agency called Children of All Nations based out of Austin, TX. Children of All Nations is a branch of Great Wall China adoption agency. Great Wall has been the leading adoption agency in the US for China adoption. Children of All nations does adoptions for several different countries and we have found them to be EXTREMELY helpful and very knowledgeable about every step of the process. They are also always available to help us when we hit a snag in paperwork!

Q: I have a few friends who have struggled with infertility....some that got pregnant, some who are still in treatments, but none that have chosen to adopt a child. Do you have any suggestions for us?
A: I know the heartache that comes with infertility and my heart aches for the women out there that have felt the loss of a child and the pain that goes with unmet desires. I pray that each of you would experience the love and peace that I have experienced by falling into my Heavenly Father’s arms broken and tired. He has mended me. He has comforted me. And most of all He has loved me through all the hurt and pain and I am coming out of this trial a stronger woman of God. My suggestions: pray, pray, and pray, read scripture and memorize verses that dispel lies from your mind, be an active part of a church family, have Godly women in your life that would be willing to cry with you and pray for you, have open communication with your husband about adoption or about what you feel God is calling you to do to grow your family. Here are some resources of books and a sermon that helped us in our decision: http://www.foreverbygrace.blogspot.com/2012/01/adoption-resources.html.

Ladies, please know that you are loved by your Heavenly Father and that He desires to give you good gifts (Matt 7:11). Jeremiah 33:3 says that He will answer us if we call on Him and He will show us great and mighty things! Matthew 7: 7 says that if we seek then we shall find! And if we knock then it shall be opened for us! Romans 8:28 says that God causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God to those who are called according to His purpose! May God's blessings flow through your heart today! Be encouraged! :)

What can we do to change the world? Will you adopt an orphan?

The Greatness of God’s Love

“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:16-18

It’s almost Valentine’s Day and I have been thinking about the people in my life that I love! I love my husband, my family, my friends, my church, my child in Africa, but most of all I love the Lord. Each day the Lord is showing me His love and grace and peace through this adoption process. I am so blessed that God has chosen my husband and I to experience the joy of building our family through adoption. 1 John 3:16-18 hit me like a ton of bricks. I experience real Love because Christ laid down His life for me. It also says “if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?” I hope and pray that I would be the Christ follower that uses the resources and love God has given me to help my brothers who are in need. Verse 18 tells me that I show Love by ACTION! Kevin and I truly believe that our adoption is one of the ways that God has called us to show love by Action. Not everyone is called to adopt a child but everyone IS called to love “in deed and in truth.” We pray that God’s blessings and love would flow through you as you walk through life. Show God’s love today. Jesus is worth our time, energy, and lives!



Think about the ways that you can demonstrate Christ's love to others today.



WHERE WE ARE IN THE ADOPTION PROCESS:

WE RECEIVED WORD ON FEBRUARY 7^TH THAT OUR PAPERWORK IS GOING THROUGH THE LAST CERTIFICATION STAGE IN WASHINGTON D.C. PROCESSING TIME IN D.C. IS 1-2 WEEKS. ONCE OUR AGENCY RECEIVES EVERYTHING BACK FROM D.C. THEN THEY WILL SEND OUR DOSSIER TO THE CONGO AND THE IN-COUNTRY STAFF WILL BEGIN WORKING ON MATCHING US WITH OUR CHILD! WE DESPERATELY DESIRE TO BRING OUR CHILD HOME SO PRAY FOR QUICK REFERRAL TIMES! PRAY THAT GOD WOULD PROVIDE THE FINANCES. PRAY THAT GOD PROTECTS OUR CHILD FROM DISEASE, HARM, AND HUNGER.

Dear Lord, I pray......

Dear Lord,

Lord, I thank you for your beautiful grace and your kind heart. Thank you for allowing me another day to serve you and minister for your glory. Lord, I pray for our child in Africa today. I pray that you would protect them from disease, hunger, and starvation. I pray that you would surround them with your love and help them to have the assurance and peace that we are coming to rescue them. I pray that somehow their birthmother would come to your saving grace if she has never met You. Help her to know that her child is loved so deeply by people she will never meet. Thank you for helping us finish all of our paperwork so quickly. I pray that all the certifications would be processed quickly so the paperwork will reach the Congo soon. Protect our child until we can bring them home. Hold our hearts as we must wait for them. Give us patience and grow our faith. Provide the finances we need to bring home our baby. Move the mountain in front of us. Help us to trust in You. We praise you for your kindness, love, and awesome peace! We rejoice in your salvation and we bless Your Holy Name!

Amen.

Pray for the children of the Congo today.

Ask the Lord to watch over them & protect them from harm.

WHERE WE ARE IN OUR PROCESS:

OUR AGENCY HAS SENT OUR DOSSIER DOCUMENTS TO BE COUNTY, STATE, AND U.S. CERTIFIED. ONCE THOSE DOCUMENTS HAVE RETURNED TO OUR AGENCY THEN THEY WILL COMPILE OUR DOSSIER ACCORDING TO THE CONGO REQUIREMENTS. ONCE THE CONGO RECEIVES THE DOSSIER THEN THEY WILL OFFICIALLY BE WORKING ON MATCHING US WITH A CHILD!

What’s new with our adoption?

Kevin and I have been busy the last couple weeks trying to get our last steps completed before we could submit our dossier to our agency! Finally on January 20^th we mailed our dossier to our agency with a check of $4838! Whew! Our agency will compile all the documents according to the standards of the Congo government and they will send it off! Yay! Baby Weldon, we are going to get you soon! We have not gotten our I600A Immigration approval but the Congo doesn’t require that approval to be sent with the dossier so we can send our immigration approval to our agency when we receive word that we have been approved! We had 7 months to complete our dossier and we have gotten it done in 1 month! That means we will be put on the waiting list sooner than we had thought! Praise the Lord!

Goodbye Dossier! Hello Congo!

We are now in the process of applying for grants to help reduce the cost of our adoption! We should have 2 grant applications submitted to Lifesong for Orphans and to the Southern Baptist Minister Grant Fund this week. Also, we have been accepted to be the featured family the week of February 26^th with an organization called Give1 Save1. Basically, people donate $1 towards our adoption fund and if 1000 people give $1 then that’s $1000 that goes to bringing home our baby! It is such an awesome idea and we are privileged to be part of this ministry!! 



Give $1 to the featured family this week! Click here!

NEXT STEP: FUNDRAISE, FUNDRAISE, FUNDRAISE!

OUR NEXT PAYMENT $3500.