Getting Passports

Wow! I forgot how expensive it is! We had to pay expediting fee's too! It takes 8 weeks and we only have 7 before the trip, figures huh!! Oh well, they should have them in 3 weeks now. They both thought it was cool to get out of school today for an hour and go to the county clerks office. They had to raise their right hands and swear that the information on the form was true and that they were in fact Dylan and Kynsley. It was so cute!! They both were so serious! AND neither one of them had read the forms, total trust in Mom! Cute, cute, cute!

Exciting news!!

We are writing to tell you about some exciting news for the Gray family. When Jody and I traveled to the orphanage in Feb. Sutton’s birth mother came to the orphanage to bring in Sutton’s baby brother. After much prayer and a very specific calling from God we are certain that this precious baby boy is meant to be our son. This decision was not made lightly and quite honestly we ignored God’s call for quite a while. We both felt our family was complete after the addition of Landon and Sutton, 7 kids was more than enough for any family!! But, obviously God had a different plan for our family.

Isaiah Aaron Gray was born on Dec. 29, 2006 in Port au Prince, Haiti. He is currently being cared for by the excellent staff at Angel House. He is now 8 weeks old and weighs a healthy 9.7 lbs. We began the adoption process just 2 days ago so it will be quite some time before he will be able to join our family here in the US. Quite possibly not until this time next year, but we are certain he will be worth the wait!

I will be traveling to Haiti in April with Dylan and Kynsley so they can meet their baby brother for the first time. Carsen will be spending the entire summer in Haiti and will be able to spend some quality time bonding with him as well. We are still working on a time for Shane to go but I’m sure it will happen.

We are excited about this new chapter in our lives and although it may sound outrageous or even crazy to most of you, we know without a doubt that this is what God has called us to do. We can not wait to get our baby boy, Isaiah, home with us!!

Going to Haiti again!!

Yes, it's true, I'm going to Haiti again for the 15th time!! Big deal right??? No way!! This trip I am taking Dylan and Kynsley with me!! They are so excited and are counting down the days until we leave on April 15th!! Which by the way is way, way, way too far away according to Kynsley. She wanted to leave today. But, they don't have passports yet so they will have to wait.

Isn't He awesome!!

I woke up today at 3 a.m. I could not sleep. My mind was going in a thousand different directions yet would not slow down enough to focus on any one of them. I laid in bed for awhile thinking I would surely go back to sleep. That did not happen. As I laid there, I begin to have a dialogue with God. I kept asking Him, "What now, Lord? What is it that You want me to do?" And I heard over and over again, "Do you trust Me?" in response. I felt like Peter when Jesus asked 3 times if he loved Him. My first response was, "Of course, I do!" But, as the morning sun began to rise, I realized I often only trust Him when it was "Comfortable" to trust. I like to sit in my comfort zone and not be pushed outside of it. I often "hide" behind my struggles, busyness and full life in an attempt to not be pulled in a direction I don't want to go. As I laid there I also realized that God gives me everything I need in order to do the work He calls me to do. This is something I have said on many occasions but it wasn't until this morning that I truly understood it!! If I am called by God and not my own desires He will provide!! It is as simple as that. It's not nearly as complicated as I've made it out to be. I do not have to be anything but God's vessel!! What an blessing it is to know that I know that I know, I am His child.



As I finished praying I asked God to show me something tangible today to help with my doubt. I am a very sight focused person, I have to see things to really understand them. So, God is used to this request from me. And being the amazing Father that He is, He often "indulges" me and allows me to see a little of Him. Today being no different. As I drove my children to school, a thunder storm blew in over the mountains to the east of us. The sun was shining through the clouds and the heat from the earth rose up to meet the rays of sunshine in the most beautiful sight I have seen in quite some time. It was breathtaking to see God's majesty right before my eyes!



I tried to capture it for you to see but unfortunately all I had was my phone, so the picture does not do God's masterpiece justice. What is missing is the way it appears that the mist and rays of sun are dancing with one another. And the way the rays shine through; similar to rays of sun shining through blinds, like God opened a window from Heaven to look down on His creation!

And as I listened to Caedmon's Call and joined with them in worshiping God as I drove down highway 273, I knew without a doubt that once again my Father had blessed me with an amazing gift, a sign that He is real and He does listen to me!!

Psalm 8:1- "O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the Earth, Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!"

Tangible proof that God was watching over Sutton!

It may not be really clear in this picture but this is the wood floor in my family room. The deet Sutton ingested also got on the floor. We didn't bother cleaning it up before we left...floor's replaceable Sutton isn't!!!!

Anyway...the deet ate right through the varnish on the wood floor!!! I can not imagine what it could have done to Sutton's insides! God was certainly looking after her.

Quite a scare!

Sutton gave us quite a scare yesterday. She got into some 100% deet insect repellent. She got it in her eye's and we could smell it on her breath. Jody rinsed her eye out while I called poison control. We were told to rinse her eye's for 10 minutes and then get her to the emergency room! The deet can cause neurological damage and we had no idea how much she ingested. By the time we got to the ER she was lethargic and not acting like herself. When they started an IV she cried but did not fight them. Not like Sutton at all!!!

I called a few people to start praying. They gave us the worst case scenario which could have meant she was life flighted to San Francisco to Children's Hospital. Needless to say we were a little freaked out.

We had to feed her charcoal to try and absorb some of the poison. She was not interested in eating it and I don't blame her, it was sooo gross! We were finally able to get her to eat it by giving it to her with applesauce.

Within 10 minutes of getting the charcoal she was back to her normal self. It was truly a miracle. She went from being totally lethargic to singing and dancing in a few minutes. God is so good!!

She woke up today like nothing had happened. Other then a red, irritated throat and a raspy voice you would never know she had given her parents the scare of their lives.

serving an amazing God

Last week in Haiti was absolutely wonderful. Every time I turned around God opened another door or provided another solution to a long sought after problem. Being home is bitter sweet, I missed my kids so much and I admit I missed some of my comforts as well (such as driving myself anywhere I want to go, taking a hot shower by just turning on the faucet, my dishwasher, washing machine and 24/7 electricity). BUT, it is so hard not to be in Haiti. I miss the children, the staff at the "O", Angela, Jimmy and the boys from St. Josephs. I also miss a new little friend, Stevenson, who is Sutton's baby brother. He is such a sweet little boy and has captured a piece of my heart. I don't know what God has in store for him or for us for that matter.

At our church we have been doing a series on what pastor Bill refers to as the "four letter words" of Christianity. This weeks message was on the word "obey". I really felt God using pastor Bill to relay a message to me. I often do not obey God...not from a lack of desire but from a lack of listening. It is difficult to obey when you do not hear. I want to obey God, I want to do whatever it is that He is calling me to do but I often miss that calling because I'm so busy "doing". It is hard to listen when you are in constant motion. The business of my life seems to be causing temporary "deafness" in me. How can I obey God if I do not take the time to be still and just listen?? How many things do I miss everyday because I'm too busy to hear??

I also do not obey because I doubt...not God but myself. As a parent it frustrates me so much when my children say "I can't" when asked to do something. I am disappointed that they aren't even willing to try. I question my parenting at times, wondering if I created in them a lack of desire to be better people!! Or the inability to see the amazing people they are becoming. I can't begin to imagine how much more I must frustrate my Heavenly Father by my lack of desire to try. These children are gifts God sent to Jody and I, He trusted us enough to raise, mold and bring them up in Christ. How can I expect them to follow my direction and guidance and to trust me to provide and protect them, if I do not do the same for my Father who created all things??? God obviously trusts me with the things He has called me to do, why can I not lean on Him who has called me?? My dear friend Michelle often says "God obviously thinks more highly of me then I do". Such a true statement! God provides all things and is the giver of all gifts so He no doubt knows my limitations and His word tell me that He will not give me more then I can handle.

Which brings me back to a sweet little boy named Stevenson. My heart tells me I am meant to be a part of this little boys life. I do not know right now if that means stretching myself (and my family) beyond what I feel are my limitations and becoming his mother. But, I do know that I plan to spend time being still and listening, which is not easy for me to do. I also know that if it is God's will then He will need to speak directly to Jody. I often respond to things when my "heart strings" are being tugged. Adoption is not a decision to be made by tugged heartstrings. It must be a decision made with God's direction. My husband is much better at reacting logically than I am. At this point he feels very, very strongly that we are not in a position to adopt another child. Jody is a Godly man and I trust him to listen and obey God's calling for us, so I will wait...wait on God to speak clearly to us...wait on Jody to hear that calling...and I will trust...trust that Jody will respond in the manner which God wishes him to...trust that God has a plan for little Stevenson...trust that God will allow my heart to "let go" if that is God's plan. And in the end, I pray that I will be able to obey my Heavenly Father's will for me.

I'm back

It's 7 a.m. on Monday morning and I've been up since 6. The kids do not have school today, the house is dark so why an I awake??? I believe it is because my heart is still in Haiti!! It's 10 a.m. there so of course I'm awake!!! The "O" has been awake for hours, kids have been fed, bathed and dressed, laundry is going and dinner is already started. The Nanny's are probably singing and praying and You-you is most likely getting supplies ready for the day, solving problems and loving on the kids. My guess is it is already hot and the rain wont come until tonight. Oh how I miss Haiti!!!

We had an amazing trip. We serve an awesome God!! Many of the hurdles we have experienced in the last few months have been overcome, new family's were formed and we got to meet Sutton's baby brother!! It was a beautiful week...I've never come home feeling like I have accomplished so much.

Thank you to the entire team, what wonderful people you are!! I truly feel that I have found life long friends!! And as Michelle likes to remind me... family is not just blood!!

I'll post picture's tomorrow when the kids go back to school!!