THE STUTZMAN FAMILY~ TREASURES THROUGH HIS GRACE: THE THREE TREES~MERRY CHRISTMAS

Thursday, December 24, 2009

THE THREE TREES~MERRY CHRISTMAS

As I walked outside tonight and saw that we only have 3 threes left to sell from our Christmas Trees for Abigail Sale, I was reminded of a story that our Bible Study Group recently read-it is called, "The Tale Of The Three Trees". I thought I would share it with you all now-it is worth the time to listen to it and reflect on the fact that God is in control of your life and He will put you where he wants you to go. Love to you all-Merry Christmas!

1 comment:

"Are These Kids All Yours?"December 24, 2009 at 6:16 PM
We love that story!!! Merry Christmas to you and your future Abigail out there somewhere :)
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

"Although it may not always be obvious to us, there seems to be one distinct moment when God begins a new story in each of our lives. He writes words on our hearts that long to be spoken and strain to be lived out. Then with His own great hand, He begins to write the script. Experience by experience through seemingly ordinary days, He supernaturally orders our lives. Only when we look back and reflect on what appeared to have been the ordinary events of life does it become clear what a miracle the Lord has performed." Jan Beazely

OUR FAVORITE VERSES

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD." As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."Isaiah 55:8-9

Ecclesiastes 11:4-5 "If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done. God’s ways are as hard to discern as the pathways of the wind, and as mysterious as a tiny baby being formed in a mother’s womb."

"He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me." Psalm 18:19

"Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders you have done. The things you planned for us no one can recount to you; were I to speak and tell of them, they would be too many to declare." Psalm 40:5

"I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13

"But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish." Psalm 9:18

"Look at the nations and watch--and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Habakkuk 1:5

"I can't stand your religious meetings. I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.I want nothing to do with your religion projects, your pretentious slogans and goals.I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes, your public relations and image making.I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music. When was the last time you sang to me?Do you know what I want? I want justice—oceans of it.I want fairness—rivers of it. That's what I want. That's all I want. " Amos 5:21-24

"I was a father to the poor and needy; the cause of him I did not know I searched out." Job 29:16

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

"...Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve." Proverbs 24:12

"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, be patient! For it will surely take place. It will not be late by a single day." Habakkuk 2:3

ETHIOPIA FACTS

*Ethiopia is one of the four poorest countries in the world
*Annual per capita income is less than $160
*47% of the population lives below the poverty rate
*Population: 74.2 million
*Average Ethiopian woman gives birth to 5.9 children
*1 in 10 children die before their first birthday
*1 in 6 children die before age 5
*Malnutrition is the cause of more than 1/2 of all child deaths
*Average life expectancy is 48 for men, 50 for women
*1 physician for every 34,988 people
*One hospital bed per 4,141 people
*1 in 4 women dies in childbirth
*Only 50% of children attend primary school (K-3)*Average class size in government schools – 85-100 children
*Overall literacy rate is 42%
*Estimated number of street children:100,000 nationwide
*More than half of girls ages 15-19 have been
circumcised.
*Rape-15% among girls ages 10-24 in Addis Ababa
*It is estimated that approximately 4.4% of the population in Ethiopia is infected with AIDS and that there are approximately 1 million AIDS orphans

IDEAS TO LIVE BY

“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, suffering, and injustice when He could do something about it. But I’m afraid He would ask me the same question.” -Anonymous

“I don’t want my life to be explainable without the Holy Spirit. I want people to look at my life and know that I couldn’t be doing this by my own power. I want to live in such a way that I am desperate for Him to come through. That if He doesn’t come through, I am screwed.”-Francis Chan

"God will never give you more than you can handle is a quote–NOT a verse in scripture. It actually never appears once in His Word. Because–when you follow Jesus…I think most of the time–He will give you God-sized portions on your plate…because they are not yours to carry. They are not yours to bear. They are not yours to heal. They are not yours to fix. They are not yours to encourage. They are not yours to get praise for". -Andrea Young

"If you have to tell people how good you are...how good really are you"?-
Colin Kaepernick's Father

“Adoption is not just about couples who want children – or who want more children. Adoption is about an entire culture within our churches, a culture that sees adoption as part of our Great Commission mandate and as a sign of the gospel itself.” – Russell D. Moore, Adopted for Life.

"You can't comfort the afflicted without
afflicting the comfortable." Princess Diana of Wales

"Therein lies the key to why God would allow us to walk through something that is beyond our ability to endure, and also the key to how to endure it! TWO keys sustain us: a faith that trusts that the same power of God that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power that will deliver you; AND, the prayers of fellow believers in Christ". -Heidi Weimer

"God alone knows the definition of terms. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned; therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms; our responsibility is to complete the task. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission." - George Ladd

"All that is needed for evil to prevail is for good men todo nothing. " Edmund Burke

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop"--Mother Teresa

"Help your brother's boat across, and your own will reach the shore"--Hindu proverb

“Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter.” ― Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God

"In adoption, God is enough for us all. He can overcome our children’s grief. He can overshadow our own inadequacies. He can sweep up our families in a beautiful story of redemption and hope and healing. If you are afraid of adoption, trying to stiff-arm the call, God is the courage you don’t have... If you are in the early days of chaos, God is the peace you and your child hunger for. If your family feels lost, He is the stability everyone is looking for. If you are working hard on healing, digging deep with your child, God is every ounce of the hope and restoration and safety and grace. In Him, you can do this. He is enough for us all." - Jen Hatmaker! ♥

"Live as if Christ died yesterday, rose this morning and is coming back tomorrow." Martin Luther

"If you can't feed a hundred people,
then feed just one"--Mother Teresa

"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a long time" Unknown

"I'm only one. But still, I am one. I cannot do everything, but still, I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do".-- Helen Keller

"To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice." Confucius

"I’d rather regret the things that I have done, than the things that I have not done" - Lucille Ball

"The one who says it can't be done should get out of the way of the one who is doing it." Chinese Proverb

"Took the road less traveled by, and
that has made all the difference"--Robert Frost

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.But those who make their journey home across time & miles,growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them,are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among usby God's very own hands" Kristi Larson

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take,but by the moments that take your breath away"--Unknown

"Stop telling God how big your storm is - Instead tell your storm how big your GOD is"--unknown

"Be the change you wish to see in the world."... GANDHI

"If we say we love God but do nothing on the behalf of the world’s vulnerable children, we’re kidding ourselves; we’re ignorant and misinformed. You cannot love God without developing a passion for orphans".- Kay Warren

"I cannot play it safe and please God."- Keith Seabourn

"Better to love God and die unknown than to love the world and be a hero; better to be content with poverty than to die a slave to wealth; better to have taken some risks and lost than to have done nothing and succeeded at it". -Erwin Lutzer"

"Grace is a catalyst. You haven’t discovered fire until you’ve discovered grace. When grace touches you, it combusts you and you become one unstoppable flame".-Ann Voskamp

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people." MLK Jr.

"Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car." Billy Sunday

"Today there are more than 365 million orphans, while the Church is busy building coffee shops. O Lord, awaken the church with revival - not caffeine"! ~ Heather Elyse

"Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of Hell..". C.T. Studd

TIME LINE ON OUR 2ND ADOPTION -BROTHER & SISTER FROM ETHIOPIA

2012
January
9th -First saw kids on website –after Pre-Application
10th-received full assessments of kids
16th, Adam spoke with Bethany
19th- First e-mail contact with our awesome caseworker Carrie Cocharn!
20th-Wonderful first conversation with Carrie our caseworker over the phone
23rd-we officially apply with Bethany Christians Services Adoption Agency
25th- Local Fingerprints Done at Silverton PD
29th- Our FIRST homestudy

February
7th-thanks for Carrie’s letter requesting expedited fingerprints, we got them back today!
11th- 2nd Homestudy
13th-our formal application and all the references /paperwork is officially accepted with Bethany. I sent a letter asking that they would reconsider their policy and “hold” the children for us-they said no L
16th- Bethany gives us some things to consider and make sure of before we adopt older kids, out of birth order and with some trauma in their past with losing their parents. We get lots of advice from others and research more and choose to move forward.
22rd- Another homestudy visit meeting
23th-LAST Homestuday visitFeb 27th – Homestudy is DONE and Approved!
29th-We get a new update with a ton of new pictures of the kids

MARCH
5th- Our I-600a Application get’s mailed
14th-Get an email that USCIS has received our application
15th-I send off several specific questions about the kids to the Ethiopian team to see if we can get more information
19th-Bethany get’s our Dossier to review for errors and we get the awesome update on the kids with our questions answered
23rd-we get a surprise phone call from Catherine at Michigan Bethany saying that they have had a meeting and have decided to “hold” the kids for OUR family!! They are taking them off the waiting children’s list and we will get our official referral as soon as we have our USCIS ingerprint clearance. We also receive our USCIS fingerprint apt. today set for April 9th
26th-Drive up to Portlad to see if immigration will fingerprint us early. THEY DO IT! :-) Now we wait for the USCIS clearance so that we can get our final referral.

APRIL
1st-April Fool's Day-we announce our adoption on Facebook and launch $10 for 10 campaign. In the first 24 hours, we bring in over $2,000!
8th-The day BEFORE our original appointment was scheduled to have our USCIS fingerprinting done, we get an Easter miracle- our Favorable Determination Letter in the mail! We are cleared through USCIS to bring home two kids! Amazing is too little of word to describe this! What, on average, takes 6-8 weeks to get back, took just 12 days for us!!!
9th-USCIS fingerprinting appointment-original date, but they have already been done! INSTEAD ON THIS DAY, WE RECEIVE AND ACCEPT THE REFERRAL OF OUR 12 YEAR OLD BOY AND HIS SISTER WHO IS 6!!! HAPPY REFERRAL DAY! 3 MONTHS EXACTLY FROM THE DAY WE REQUESTED INFORMATION ON THE KIDS! GOD IS GOOD!
Also today, we are gifted with an $8,000 gift toward our adoption! Awesome!
11th- We are told by our agency that the State of Oregon put the wrong seal on all of the documents for our Dossier. The entire thing has to be re-done. We work like crazy for 24 hours and get every single document (about 25) completely re-done and re-notarized! That must be a record for dossier completion.
12th- We go down to the State of Oregon again to have the CORRECTLY re-seal our dossier and learn that no, the first one wasn't wrong-it was actually correct! Bethay, our agency, didn't realize that Oregon changed their State Seal a couple months ago and so now it looks different-it was right the whole time! We are sick, but Bethany refunds $400 because of this hassle, so in the end, after paying all of the fees, we come out only $50 ahead-but better than nothing. UGH. Because of this, Bethany overnights our entire dossier to Washington DC to get sealed by Hillary Clinton-Secretary of State and will overnight it back to Bethany when done-this will save a couple weeks off of our time frame.
14th-Washington DC receives our Dossier.
19th - Dossier is back from Washington, D.C. and has been authenticated by the Department of State and the Ethiopian Embassy
25th- Our dossier was authenticated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia and registered with the Ministry of Women’s, Children’s and Youth Affairs (MOWYCA) in Addis Ababa.

MAY
7th-Our case is submitted to the Ethiopian Court System-now we wait for a court date so we can go meet our kids!!!
15th - We find out we receive a grant of $10,000 for our adoption-God is SO awesome!!!
17th- We receive our court date just TEN days after our case was submitted into the Ethiopian court system! We will appear in court JUNE 5th and our kids birthfamily court appointment is May 29th! Once again, God defeats all time constraints as he has His own timeline!
25th-27th HUGE Yard Sale Fundraiser at our house!
29th- Our kid's birthfamily court date. Their teenage step-sister will appear before the judge to permanetely relinquish them-hard day!!!
31st - We leave Portland to head to DC and then onto Addis Ababa to meet our kids and appear in court! We are about to become parents again Xs TWO!!!

JUNE
4th-We meet our kids for the first time!! Precious! They come up and give us big hugs! They call us "Mom & Dad" when we leave this first day!
5th- Our Court date in Addis. We don't pass due to not having Birthfather's Death Certificate. Bethany gets right on this and find it by the day we leave.
7th- We say Goodbye to our kids and fly home to wait for our court clearance and an embassy date.
12th-We officially pass court and have two more children in our family!
20th-We receive word that the kids both have their new birth certificates
28th-We get pictures of the kids and their new passports with the last name of "Stutzman"!

JULY
3rd-All of our documents are ready to be submitted to the US Embassy-and the kids medicals and TB tests were all good. The submission should happen tomorrow! However, we later hear that it happened today! We are submitted to the embassy!
6th-We get word that Bete is sick with diarrhea along with several other children in the orphanage.
11th-We are told that Bete is doing much better and is well.
12th-We are e-mailed that the consular section has completed screening for our Form I-600 petition. They will now begin the review of orphan
status for the I-604, Determination on Child for Adoption. So we now wait to hear when the birth family interview appointment will be scheduled.
16th-WE HEAR WE ARE CLEARED TO TRAVEL BY THE US EMBASSY! THEY DON'T NEED TO INTERVIEW ANY BIRTH FAMILY MEMBERS! WE CAN LEAVE THIS WEEK TO GO GET OUR KIDS FOR AN EMBASSY APPOINTMENT NEXT WEEK!
19th-We fly out to Dulles and spend a couple days in DC before heading to Addis.
22nd-We leave DC to Addis
23rd-We arrive in Addis Ababa and get to meed the children's step sister! Hard and awesome all in one! WE THEN GO AND PICK UP OUR NEW KIDS!

OUR TIMELINE TO OUR BABY GIRL~

JANUARY 2009
Filled out a
pre-application with ACGI
7th-spoke to ACGI and
received financial worksheets / Ethiopia Christmas!
9th-mailed financial
worksheets in
13th-AGCI asked us to get
a counselor and doctor's letter
27th-AGCI received Adam's
personal statement letter
February 2009
throughout
this month-spoke numerous times to Kiersten at AGCI
March 2009
19th-Attended
AGCI adoption seminar in Portland
May 2009
15th-Final
Dr. letter faxed to AGCI-we can now move forward!
19th-Approved to
officially Apply-Application was approved!
20th-Received
orientation packet
21st-Orientation Call
2pm/notarized paperwork to become AGCI client
22nd-Mailed paperwork
from orientation packet to AGCI
28th-Received Home
Study Folders and Eyes Wide Open Work Book
June 2009
1st-Dossier Call
Overview of program with Kiersten
8th-9th-Took on-line 10hr
classes from Adoption Learning Partners as a required course
11th-Visited AGCI in Portland-met
Kiersten and Becky finally! Turned in 1/2 of home study paperwork Got
fingerprinted at Silverton PD
13th-Mailed FBI
fingerprint cards
July 2009
28th-finished and
mailed the large Eyes Wide Open workbook
31st-Eyes Wide Open
workbook was approved
August 2009
7th-9th-Yard Sale for
Adoption-raised $803
11th-AGCI received Adam's
Criminal check back
14th-16th-#2 Yard Sale
for adoption-raised $472 Total of $1,200 raised!!!
20th-All homestudy documents
complete and received by AGCI!!!
27th-First Home study
with Jodi
September 2009
1st-Popcan
Drive Starts
2nd-2nd and Final Home
Study with Jodi
28th-Entire Dossier
taken to AGCI
30th-Home Study
approved by AGCI & CIS mailed
October 2009
2nd-WE
ARE ON THE OFFICIAL WAITLIST #44 for a baby girl 0-12
months
6th-already moved to
#42 on waitlist
9th-CIS received our
I-600A application
November 2009
2nd-Finally
finished pop can drive $235 raised!
5th-We are #31-moved
11 spots in one month!
9th-AGCI sends our
Dossier off to Ethiopia
18th-Started Baby
Bottle Coin Drive
20th-FINALLY received
fingerprint apt. at CIS for Dec. 9th!
28th-Started selling
Christmas trees for fundraiser!
December 2009
4th-we
are #27 on the wait list!
9th-Fingerprinting
done at Portland CIS office
12th-We all get our
Travel Immunizations-OUCH! 16th-Family
Article in "Our Town" Newspaper!
25TH-MERRY CHRISTMAS
SEBLE!
All month-cut and
sell 173 Christmas Trees and raise $2,300 for adoption!
26th-Started our
"Bye Bye Christmas Tree Recycling 28th-Hannah's Hope moves into New Orphanage!
January 2010
2nd-Finished Recycling
Christmas Trees 12 total=$60 5th-we are #23 on the wait list!
7th-Ethiopia's
Christmas-Dinner at Queen of Sheba-1st Ethiopian Dinner
13th-Begin to gather
items for silent auction
22nd-Received H-I17
Favorable Determination Letter Received grant from SHOW HOPE of
$4,000!
February 2010
5th-Official
Wait list number of #18!
23rd-Baby Bottle Coin
Drive Ends with a grand total of:$530!!!
March 2010
8th-Official
Wait List number of #15!
12th-Ehiopian
Government issued the decision that ALL families adopting from Ethiopia must
make TWO trips there
21st-Our t-shirt sale
begins
April 2010
8th-We are Officially
number 11!
22nd-Our Silent Auction
Fundraiser!! We
raise $6,200!!!
May 2010
7th-We
our officially number 8!
9th-Ethiopian
Government issues the 2 trip policy for families-we must now travel twice
15th-Start T-shirt
Special Sale-$12 any shirt!
15th-Start Collecting
Orphanage Donations from family/friends for our trip.
June 2010
9th-We are officially
number 6 / Unofficially #4 !!
July 2010
1st-Cookie Sale Starts
and t-shirt give away starts!
2nd-Our number is now
officially 5/ unofficially 4!
7th-More referrals have
gone out-we are unofficially #3
9th-we are informed that
we are unofficially most likely #1 if not #2!!!
19th- 11:15AM-WE RECEIVE THE CALL FOR OUR REFERRAL OF OUR 5-1/2
WEEK OLD BABY GIRL AND ARE HEAD OVER HEELS IN LOVE!
22nd-International Pediatrician
phone consultation 23rd-Turn
in acceptance packet for our baby
3oth-Cookie Sales End
total of $418 raised
31st-Car Wash benefit
done-raised $363
August 2010
6th-Cinnamon Roll Sale
raised $150
12th-Our File is OPEN in
the Ethiopian Court System 24th GOT OUR COURT DATES: Seble’s Oct 20th, Ours
(our first trip) Nov. 19th!
25th-$240 Raised from
parking cars in our yard for 2 week end festivals Late August-Courts in Ethiopia Close
for their 2 month rainy season
September 2010
1st-Purchased
Tickets for our First Trip
October 2010
1st-Ethiopian
Courts re-open and we await our court dates!
20th-First 1/2 of
court-Seble's court date is today in Ethiopia
21st-We hear the
Seble passed her portion of court.
November 2010
12th-We leave from
Portland to Washington DC to spend 2 days and onto Addis Ababa for our court
date 16th-we get to meet our baby girl for
the first time-God is SO good!!!!!!!
19th-We testify at court
in Ethiopia-SEBLE IS LEGALLY OURS-WE HAVE A NEW DAUGHTER-WE ARE A FAMILY OF 8!
20th-we say goodbye to
Ethiopia and to Seble and head home to await an Embassy date
21st-We arrive back home
to wait some more
December 2010
3rd-We get our Embassy
date for Dec. 27th!
7th-We buy our plane
tickets for our final trip-Adam, my mom and I will go this time to bring her
home
15th-Follow up article on
our families adoption runs in the Silverton Newspaper
21st-we tragically find
out that our embassy date hasn't been confirmed by the US Embassy in Addis...we
wait and pray for a Christmas miracle
22nd-we hear again the
our date still hasn't been confirmed-we are feeling so sad and continue to pray
23rd-we celebrate our
family's Christmas and get the news we were dreading-we are not confirmed with
the embassy-we will not leave tomorrow-and have to cancel our tickets
24th-Christmas Eve -and
we are staying home-we receive a video of Seble from another mom traveling and
it was a wonderful gift!
25th-Christmas isn't what
we expected but we have much to be grateful for and are home with our kids-we
are praying we get a quick 2nd embassy date
30th-We get news that we
have gotten clearance from the US Embassy that we can come for our apt. We have
24hrs to get our tickets and get ready to leave 31st-New Years Eve-and we leave
finally from PDX at 645pm to
go to Addis Ababa!
January 2011
2nd-We arrive in Addis
and are taken to pick up Seble from Hannah's Hope and take her back to our
hotel. 3rd-We
all go to the Embassy where Seble receives her Visa approval
6th-We leave Addis and
fly out of Bole International Airport-after midnight-so we actually were in
Ethiopia to ring in their Christmas
7th-Ethiopian
Christmas-we are on a plane in the tarmac at Bole Airport
8th-we arrive home at
Portland Airport to our waiting family and friends who finally get to meet
Seble-WE ARE HOME!! Let the next journey begin!