Change of plans...

Proverbs 16:9 The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his way. Kevin and I have talked about adoption since before we married. Then we had 4 kids very close, and it seemed like a crazy idea. But God wouldn't let up. After talk, prayer, debate and tears we knew God wasn't done growing our family. And we knew the way he wanted our family to expand was through adoption. We discussed every option, foster care, international amd domestic. We took a couple foster care classes amd ultimately decided it was not a fit for our family right now. We glanced at domestic but decided it too wasn't for us because we weren't necessarily looking for an infant. We ultimately leaned towards international, and after much research and prayer we chose Haiti and began pursuing a girl. Haiti is a long wait so we figured 2+ years. At the start of this process the song by Hillsong United "Oceans" came out. And I couldn't get through it without tears streaming, all I could think of was what God was calling us to with adoption: "spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, Let me walk upon the waters, wherever you would call me, Take me deeper then my feet could ever wander and my faith be made stronger in the presence of my savior" We began paper work, we began fundraising. Everything took far longer then we imagined. We finished our homestudy and began work on our dossier, we have nothing paper work wise in haiti at this point nor do we have an official match. Those song lyrics played in my head in the deep moments of doubt with this adoption. I felt like I was doing good claiming God's promise to us to walk beside us through this adoption. I knew to pray for trust constantly: trust to travel overseas, trust to raise the needed funds, trust to bond with a child not biologically ours-those things to me were God calling me to where my trust was without borders, haiti was deeper then my feet could ever wander, and my faith was certainly being made stronger with every step! Well I am thankful that God was building my faith (Isaiah 41:10 "so do not fear for I am with you, do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand") in preperation for the turn our journey would take. Because now we are in the midst of a DOMESTIC ADOPTION, yes take a breath and read those words again- DOMESTIC ADOPTION. THE EXACT thing we didn't think we wanted is exactly what God called us to. I know you are asking how we got here... well I won't bore you with details. But a friend passed us the info of a lawyer who is a friend of hers, who was looking for a family to adopt this baby. We had to act quickly but ultimately put our name in as a potential. A whole lot of things have happened since but im going to be vague- the mom is no longer working with her agency and the adoption will all take place through our lawyer, the Mom has had limited medical care (we are now helping her with this)and has recently gotten out of jail. But she has selflessly chosen life for this child and we are so very very thankful for that and indebted to her for choosing us as this child's parents. So we know This is a lot to take in, it's crazy, maybe we are crazy but here is the even crazier part... she is DUE IN EARLY DECEMBER. With that being said we need your prayers now more then ever, she has every right to change her mind and at this point that would be devestating- pray for protection of our hearts, We are hopeful the baby will be born healthy but the lack of medical care and some other things give us cause for concern, please pray this baby will defy every odd and be born 100% healthy that the doctors and nurses would be in awe of our Gods powerful hand. Pray that this story will be Gods story- that we will trust in Him at every twist and turn and claim his truths. To this point we haven't had to use a lot of our funds but if this all works out we will have a lot of fees at once come up very,very quickly... legal fees, traveling costs, care for the Mother, medical expenses and preperation for bringing a newborn home we are looking likely close to 10-12,000 dollars... in A MONTH we need you guys more then ever to prayerfully consider coming beside us and giving, but ,more then anything we ask for your prayers! We have a pancake dinner and silent auction November 21, if you can attend we would love to see you there, if you can donate towards food or an auction item that would be a huge help, please let me know if you want to help. If you feel led to donate you can do so 1 of 3 ways: mail 721 silverhill Dr murfreesboro tn 37129. PayPal yates1876@gmail.com or our give forward page that I will update asap www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/jhw6 (or Google pay forward bringing harper home) We love you all and ARE SO THANKFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT

Sofia pearl is 6

It was like yesterday but yet a lifetime ago that we welcomed our sweet Sofia into our little family. She was the 1st of my babies that I delivered drug free and it was the most humbling experience ever! Despite all our classes, talks and prep for a natural birth I had majorly underestimated the intensity in a natural birth. By the wee hours we were exhausted, both physically and emotionally, we were bound together more then even more then then before as I relied fully on Kevin for every ounce of strength when the pain seemed to much and finally when Sofia made her entrance (screaming) we felt indescribable JOY! Her life has brought us continuous joy! She is head strong, funny (I mean FUNNY), she is a friend to everyone, she is compassionate and empathetic, she is head strong and emotional! She keeps her momma and daddy on their toes! She started kindergarten this year and LOVES IT. she has made many friends, loves learning and her teacher is womderful. We are so proud of her and can't wait to see what God has in store for her life!