Celebrating The Wait

During my personal devotion time this morning, I was reading Psalm 130 and read through verse 5:

"I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait,

and in His word do I hope." Psalm 130:5

Within the margin of my Bible, I had written:

"11/13/2009, Joni & I were approved by the adoption agency yesterday. Now, we wait to be chosen."

Tears of joy filled my eyes as I paused this morning to reflect on the brief journey Joni & I have taken since I recorded that note last year.

The following week of 11/20/2009, Joni & I had received our first adoption situation (teen birthmother in Kentucky cast on MTV's '16 & Pregnant') followed by two other situations over the next four months. All three ending when the birthmothers selected other families to parent their children.

The process was a powerful, emotional roller coaster that caught both of us by surprise.

THEN, on March 26, 2010 (4 months & 3 days from my above note AND 3 days from the conclusion of the third adoption situation), we surprisingly discovered God had chosen us to parent our own biological child!

What a mighty God we serve!

"I wait for the Lord, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope."

Psalm 130:5

Today, we CELEBRATE the wait for December 2, 2010 when (Lord wiling) we will welcome our little miracle (Joel Delano Bowen) home.

Thank you for your continued prayers,

Rod & Joni

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Initial photos from Joel's room [a work in progress]:

While I'm Waiting...I Will Serve You!

A Mother's Prayer - Rachel Aldous

A wonderful song & video!

Oh.....BOY!

Joni & I are thrilled to report that we are expecting a little BOY! Lord willing, Joel Delano Bowen will arrive on or near December 2, 2010.

Joni's doctor is very pleased with the latest ultrasound and told us that everything looks great. Thank you so much for your continued prayers!

Happy 4th Wedding Anniversary!

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." James 1:17

God Has Blessed Us With A Miracle!

Family / Friends,

We are thrilled to let you know we are expecting a baby! This pregnancy is truly a wonderful miracle & an amazing gift from our Lord!

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!

Having been in the adoption process for a year, we had hoped that we would one day be able to have biological children too. We simply did not fathom it would be in our near future!

December 2, 2010

Thank you so much for your continued prayer support!
-Rod & Joni

A devotional thought from a pair of mouth retainers?

Recently, I've been pondering the verse, Romans 2:12, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Earlier this week, I met with an orthodontist to have new retainers created to replace my old ones that were slowly breaking down. I only wear the retainers at night, so I did not realize the slow breakdown of the old retainers was actually allowing my teeth to slowly move from the position the braces had placed them years ago.

Well, I didn't realize THAT IS until my new retainers were placed onto my teeth this week.

Ouch!

The new retainers totally disrupted my first night of sleep. I could literally feel my teeth slowly moving. Needing to get these teeth back into the correct positions, I decided to keep the retainers in my mouth the next couple of days. Slowly, the pain began to ease. Now, at day 3, there is little pain..just a slight tenderness on the gums.

I am really surprised that my teeth had moved THAT MUCH.

To the eye, they looked the same.

As I ate, I never noticed any issues.

That is when this verse in Romans really started to stick into my head.

Like the retainers, I must remember that I need to keep myself fastened into God's word, DAILY! The Bible is the "retainer" that keeps my mind anchored in Him and living in His direction for life. Without, I will begin to shift from the place He has positioned me in Him...slowly...unnoticed by others or even me...I will drift away farther from Him.

Romans 2:12, "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect."

Thanks for your continued prayers.

Family & Friends,

Thanks so much for your continued prayers these past two weeks while the MS agency was trying to locate the birthmother in order to get her back into the office to make the decision. Our agency just notified us the birthmother has chosen another family.

I just spoke to Joni, and we are both happy to hear a decision has finally been made. Of course, we are disappointed that we were not selected, but we are more excited to know the little boy will NOW have a family to care for him.

Please continue to pray for that little boy and his adoptive family that the transition/attachment/bonding will be seamless between them.

Thanks again for your continued prayers for us, too

:) -Rodney

2/26/2010: PLEASE PRAY - Adoption Update!

Please join us in prayer!

Our adoption profile is being shipped overnight to deliver on Monday; 3/1/2010 to a young birthmother in MS. She will review our profile along with many other "waiting families" profiles next week in order to decide which family she wants to parent her newborn baby boy.

What we know:

* Birthmother delivered her healthy, bi-racial baby boy on February 5, 2010

* Wanting to choose an adoption plan, she released her baby to "interim care"/foster care until she could select the adoptive family.

* The agency is trying to contact the birthfather to determine whether he will relinquish his parenting rights (birthmother has voluntarily relinquished her rights to parent).

Please pray:

1. For the birthmother. We are thrilled that she chose LIFE! Though we can not imagine that emotional, physical, etc that she must go through in choosing an adoption plan, we are already praying for her...yes, FOR HER. As she has to review the many profiles in order to make such a life decision for her baby, she is sure to face many emotions. Please pray for her and that our Lord would direct her to choose the family that He has in mind.

2. For the baby boy. He is currently in interim care, and he will soon be placed into an adoptive family's care. So, within these past few weeks, this little boy will have already faced TWO MAJOR LOSSES in his young life.

- His mother.

- His interim care mother & family

From our training, we understand that even at his young age, he could struggle with attachment issues due to these major transitions occurring. Please pray for him.

3. For the birthfather. Though we are not sure whether he is known by anyone other than the birthmother, please do pray that if he comes forward that he will see God's grace and love through the lives of those adoption personnel working to serve the birthmother and this little baby boy.

Thank you so much for your prayers!

We will plan to update our blog just as soon as we receive an update from our agency.

SNOW ICE CREAM!

With 5+ inches of snow fall, we carefully scraped the top layer to create a SNOW ICE CREAM treat!

January SNOW DAYS!

Joni's snow dance paid off! She got a snow day from school as snow fell on Friday (1/29/2010), and we are guessing schools will also be closed on Monday (2/1/2010). A BEAUTIFUL SNOW (with layer of ice on top) that is GREAT for sledding! :)