I'm outta my mind!

Let me give you a little background on this whole running thing. As I said in my previous post, I am NOT a runner. Most people would say they are not runners. I think I need to use visuals here...worth a thousand words, right?

This is me....two months after Carter was born in 2004. Do I LOOK like a runner? (rhetorical question, please don't answer!)

Two years after that was taken, I had gastric bypass surgery. I lost a lot of weight (obviously) and I had the great idea that I could run a half marathon for my 30th birthday - after all, my best friend Katie did, so I could too! The result...(picture shrunk for the faint of heart)

I had to have two ligaments in my right ankle repaired. Turns out the many ankle rolls I'd had over years had stretched them too far. I didn't know until I was running about 3 miles and one morning, I just woke in excrutiating pain. I had to go through several months of physical therapy, then surgery, and then more PT (which I never completed because of my move to Arkansas and loss of insurance coverage).

So...you probably get the idea that I am truly NOT a runner!

Well, I wasn't, but I'm learning to change that train of though now. I found inspiration....in my kids. I run for my kids...after all, everyone had kids that make them go outta their mind occassionally, right?

I ran my first 5K in honor of Carter in April of 2012. It was the local Autism Involves Me Walk & 5K. We did the walk last year, but this year, I decided to run for him. My ears hurt so bad because it was 32 degrees when we started, but it was every bit worth it to show my support to my little guy.

After that race, a friend that ran it for us last year and this year and is on a triathlon team said, "Welcome to the addiction." Thanks Richard! I wasn't addicted! I hate running! Running is NOT fun!

Then I joined Crossfit Aftershock in May and ran the Cancer Challenge in June with my Crossfit coach (well, not with him....far behind him, but you get the idea!)

Richard is again part of this story...he ran a water station and threw a cup of water right up my nose! I'm going to hold that against him for awhile!

Shortly after that, the One Heart For Justice event (http://www.oneheartforjustice.com/) Richard and our friend Malinda (who has completed a couple of halves AND a full marathon) then began telling me I could do it. I told them I couldn't. Cause, remember, I'm NOT a runner!

A month later, I did a 2 mile mud run with obstacle course in Tulsa with Malinda and my friend Katie (remember, the one who prompted me to try when I was 29). It was a blast! We were the Arkansas Lady Piggies!

So, I'd already run for Autism, Cancer, and Firefighters Burn Camps.

I planned to run the One Heart for Justice 5K to support adoption grants and fighting human trafficking. That's a great cause!

But a half marathon...13.1 miles? NOPE! Too much - I couldn't do that! It would hurt to train and take so much time!

Time out! Reframe!

My daughter has Spina Bifida. She's had numerous surgeries, very painful surgeries, and struggles just to try to walk. Is the example I want to set for her one of "it's too hard, I'm not even going to try because it hurts and takes a lot of time a practice"? HECK NO!

Philipians 4:13 says I can do all things through Him who gives me strength. I want her to believe that!

So, I committed! I'm doing it! I'm running a half marathon on October 6th! I use the word run loosely...but...

I'M A RUNNER NOW!

I can do it for her...and you can help!

There are three ways you can get involved.

1) Sponsor me (kinda like a jog-a-thon or laps for life). I've created a chip-in with a link to the right of this blog. You can donate there for the funds to go directly to our paypal account. If you would like a tax deduction for your donation, you can go to http://gracehavenhome.com/?page_id=4 and make a donation through Grace Haven Ministries. Make sure to note Skaggs family in the comments and 100% of the donation will still go towards our adoption!

2) There is a 5K, Fun Run, Half-Marathon and Half-Marathon relay (partners each run 10K). Pick and event and participate with me in my daughter's name. We will have met her by then and will name the team after her. Your registration fee will go to support Titus Task and Ezekiel Rain. The purchase of a team T-shirt will support our adoption costs and you too can gather your own sponsorships, 100% of which will go towards the adoption.

3) Volunteer at the event and cheer our team on! There are volunteers needed to help make this event as successful as possible. Visit the website to learn more about this opportunity. And you can still order a team T-shirt even if you aren't running!

While my daughter is motivation enough, it would mean so much to have your support in the great endeavor I've taken on!

And as always, thank you for your prayers! We leave in 15 days, 20 hours, 13 min, and 22, 21, 20 seconds!

Kendra

Much Needed Update

So, I haven't blogged for two months. There are many reasons behind that...a lull in activity, discouragement along the way as families adopting from the region we are lost their children to death, bio families who came back, or other situations, and then the hustle of the new school year starting for Carter and I. Oh, and training to run a half-marathon....yep, that takes A LOT of time and energy for a non-runner (me!).

Two months of blogs....I think I'll give you cut & dry bullets.

• We leave on Sept. 14th for Mo$cow for our first of three required trips. We have an appointment with the Ministry of Education (their version of DHS) on the 17th to accept the official referral. Our Visas will arrive tomorrow. We were lucky to get 6 weeks notice of our appointment date so that we could save money on airfare and visas! This means, depending on how long it takes to get a court date, our girl will come home with us sometime between Christmas and Valentine's Day.

• We have three different options for staying while in-country that we are working on checking the details of...two include staying with people living in the country. We are so excited that another family adopting from the same orphanage will have an overlapping visit with us! We have been in contact with them from the beginning of this journey and are excited to meet them - if even only for one day.

• I'm training to run a half-marathon on Oct. 6th. You can visit http://www.oneheartforjustice.com/ to find out about this amazing event benefitting two local organizations that provide adoption grants and fight human trafficking. I'm going to write a whole post about this - why I'm doing it and how you can help, right after I finish this one.

• We need to raise $15,000 more to be fully funded. The half-marathon is a fundraiser for us (more in the next post), we are having a garage sale, the word is still out on one grant, and we plan to have a dinner, dance and auction in the beginning of Nov. We are also still selling Qdoba coupon sheets. You can read more about these on the fundraisers tab.

I think that's all for a cut and dry update. Stay tuned to find out more about the half-marathon. Did I mention I am NOT a runner?

Kendra

Beautiful Things...

(Don't worry - you're not experiencing de-ja-vu! This is a repost from the old blog I wanted to get up here)

Yesterday, one of my SPED students who has some behavior issues asked me if my son was "good." I told her I didn't know what she meant. "You know, is he good?" she asked, to which I responded, "Good at what?" The whole group was intently listening tot his conversation in a rare fasion, and they all had this look on their face like they couldn't believe I didn't understand what she was asking. They all knew what she meant - and I did too, but I like to make them think!
I went on to explain that I don’t believe any children are “bad” – behaviors and choices can be bad, but children are not bad. Much to my delight, they all got that “lightbulb look” that keeps teachers going when the going gets tough. Even better, a glowing smile came across the face of the questioning student, as if to not only understand, but be relieved to know... “I’m not
bad.”

There’s a T-shirt that says: “I’m the wretch that song talks about.” I’d wear that shirt, but it would embarrass my husband (so I’ll just write about it here J). The remarkable thing about it, is that even when I was so very lost, when I was blind to my own very bad choices and behaviors, God still saw me as beautiful. I wish I knew that then, because I probably wouldn’t have made so many and such poor choices if I believed that God saw me as beautiful. I was doing ugly things, and I felt ugly.
At some point near my 30th birthday, God broke through the layers of callous I’d built around my heavy heart so that I could understand that I am not bad or ugly, but that I am, in fact, beautiful! He made me that way, and therefore I could accept the grace He has extended to me. Grace. What a powerful concept!

Knowing this makes it understandable that the song “Beautiful Things” has a lot of meaning to me. But recently, that song has become even more powerful. I can’t listen to it, or sing it, without tears. Not for myself, but for our princess, and really, for all orphans. Please take a moment to click here to listen to the song and read the lyrics: http://youtu.be/nJ4yNYY1hHM

The song begins: All this pain, I wonder if I’ll ever find my way, I wonder if my life could really change at all.

I can’t read, listen to, or sing those lyrics without thinking of our sweet, sweet girl as she is right now - laying in a hospital bed for the vast majority of these nice days (their weather has been similar to ours recently), both legs in casts, with only one occasional visitor (soooo thankful for Anna!). She’ll be in that state for approximately 2 months.

She doesn’t know we’re coming for her yet. I know she wonders if her life will change - if she is worthy of a Mommy and Daddy coming for her, what it would even be like to have a family and a home, and if she’ll ever have relief from her physical pain.

My sweet, precious girl, we are coming for you. We are trying as fast as we can to come take you out of the chaos you know as your life. You are beautiful! Please have hope – God is making you new even though you don’t know it! Jesus was sent to heal our broken hearts and set us free. He did it for me, and for you too!

Until we can go get our baby girl, we are going to continue to work like it’s up to us. Please join us in praying because we know it’s up to God.

If you're able to help financially, please see the information under the tabs at the top of the page to send tax deductible donations to Grace Haven Ministries and check out our fundraisers page to find other ways you can help! We welcome you to share our blog!

News...

There's so much my heart is aching to tell our supporters, but I can't. I want to shout it out, and yet, I can't. Those of you that know me personally know how hard it can be for me to keep my mouth shut!  :-O So here is the news I can tell you.

We are about half way there with our fundraising efforts. We don't have all of this money in our hands, but it has been pledged and we are so very thankful to God and for these "senders." Proverbs 16:3 says, "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans." He shows us each day how He is working to bring our daughter home to us.

We are as thankful to those who give what they can, when they can as we are to large donors who we've never met. We've received donations from my best friend from K-2nd grade who she hasn't seen since jr high, from a friend who gave us $8 in an envelope because that's all she could, and from church members who are saving to move to Africa to do full-time missions. These are some of the donors that bring tears to my eyes - I see the promises of God in these people.

As far as grants go, we applied to 4 and were granted 2 so far. Our matching grant through Grace Haven (gracehavenhome.net) should be close to being matched and hopefully will be by Friday as we do our iPad giveaway drawing on Saturday. You can get details on that by clicking on the iPad giveaway link at the top of the page.

We were awarded $6,000 by the JSC Foundation which is part of the National Christian Association. This check went directly to our agency. Praise God!

Lifesong for Orphans did not have grant funds available, however they are setting us up with fundraising support. In the coming days, I will be writing a support letter to send out. I will also post that here!

There is still one more we are waiting to hear on. It is a secular organization called Gift of adoption. Their avg. grant is $3,500, but can go up to $7,500. Please keep that one in your prayers!

I've got to get to a dentist apointment. I'd like to leave you with this thought.

Ephesians 2:10 tells us we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

This is not a path Jason and I knew we would be going down. While I started considering adoption years ago, It's only been since about two years ago that it even crossed Jason's mind. But this is what God prepared for us to do in advance. Through it, He is working so many wonderful things in us! We want you to experience ALL that God has for you!

YOU are a MASTERPIECE in the mind of the creator of the Earth. When we think of masterpieces, we think of art. People pay $35MILLION for a painting. Jason and I are paying $45,000 for a child. Sometimes we feel the "unfairness" of this, and all too often people tell us why that is too much. But think about this.

Christ gave His life for us - all of us. That is PRICELESS! Our daughter is PRICELESS! You are PRICELESS!

Listen to God speaking to your heart and follow. Do something priceless with your life!

Dossier

As defined at dictionary.com:

dos·si·er

  [dos-ee-ey, -ee-er, daw-see-ey, -see-er; Fr.daw-syey]  noun

a collection or file of documents on the same subject, especially a complete file containing detailed information about a person or topic.

As defined by me: The first trimester of adoption. Months of paper-chasing. Notarizing and re-notarizing. Having friends and family in different states visit courthouses to obtain certified documents. Having all of those documents apostilled. A roller-coaster of emotions when something is returned or takes an unexpected amount of time to be completed. The single most nerve-wracking package I've ever mailed!

For us, it included over 60 documents...some of them several pages...nearly 2 1/2 pounds of paper. 

It represents the culmination of all that has to be done in America to proceed with our international adoption. 

It will now be checked by our agency, and if it is all correct (please pray that it is!), it will be sent to Eastern Europe where it is translated and notarized yet again. Then, we can be registered an receive a formal invitation to travel and receive an official referral. That's when we get to meet our daughter!

It also represents over $5,000 in paperwork, agency fees, international fees, postage, etc. We would like to thank all of you who have helped in our fundraising efforts to help us make these payments!

If you'd like to continue in helping us in this journey, you can do that by entering our iPad giveaway. There are details under the iPad tab at the top of the blog. The drawing will be held on June 30th.

Above all, please join us in prayer for a wedge of protection over our daughter, our family, and our friends who are in the midst of adoption in Eastern Europe. Pray for the US to have favor with the E.European politicians in regards to American adoption and favor for our family in the choosing of grant recipients. 

Thank you. Be blessed!

A little favor...

Hello Friends, family, and supporters from around the .... well ... world! If you would do me a great favor before I actually start blogging and leave a comment when you visit with your name and city, it would greatly help me! I'm working on having a safer blog, without having to make it private. So, I have installed an IP tracker and I can label your IP address so that when I check, I know how many familiar people I have visiting, and how much "stranger danger" traffic I've got. Call me papranoid - but not really...it's for the protection of my babies.

While I don't have blogs up, you can check out the page tabs at the top. They are complete with information.

Thanks & have a blessed day!