Even in the Waiting, God is Still at Work

Do you believe it? I mean really, waiting on something is really hard, but do you believe the title of today's posting? 

We have recently been struggling with the continued waiting process associated with adoption. It is hard to imagine that we were approved to adopt through the Good Shepherds Fold (GSF) nearly 15 months ago and that we were in a position to receive a referral for a child or sibling group nearly 13 months ago. Then, God directed us to move, to leave our home and friends and a wonderful church in Mississippi, as He opened a door for something that Joey has always had a dream of doing - ministering to and teaching college students.

We are adjusting well to life in Pennsylvania. Joey is indeed loving his teaching ministry in the School of Education at Cairn University, and we are slowly making new friendships and connections as we get to know the area. We love having Sarah's parents nearby, as they have helped us so much through this relocation process. We are a now a part of a great church, and our kids are no longer referring to our home as "the new house". Zoe is liking school again as she nears the completion of 1st grade, Micah is on track for entering Kindergarten in the fall with an IEP for his continued speech delays, and Caleb made so much progress on his speech issues that he no longer needs any type of services/therapy.

We have recently had some conversations with friends about the continued waiting with our adoption process, and we continue to rest in the fact that God can make this happen, though the timing now (though not later) seems discouraging and confusing at times. One of our pastors recently challenged us to remember that true Biblical faith when asking God for wisdom and direction can be found in James 1:6-8. It says "be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do."

In our prayers to the Lord, we can "come boldly to the throne of our gracious God" (Hebrews 4:16), and know that "the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results." (James 5:16)

Here are some quick praise updates since our last blog post: 

1. Our homestudy was revised for Pennsylvania on March 8. We are approved for up to 2 children (siblings or non-biologically-related), of either gender, ages 0-5. 
2. Our government paperwork process (I-600A) was submitted, we were fingerprinted again, and we talked with the officer assigned to our file today, and our I-600A has been updated and approved! It is set to be mailed to us today too. 
3. GSF is continuing to work through referral possibilities for our family and is trying to get a court date scheduled this summer, which means we could be travelling to Uganda as early as potentially July. 

Would you pray the following for our family as we continue the waiting process?

1. Pray that we would not be discouraged or become weary as we continue to wait. 
2. Pray for the staff at GSF that speedy investigations can occur so we can receive a referral for a child or children soon. 
3. Pray that God would provide the remaining finances needed. We have now received 78% of the estimated $15,000 needed to adopt one child. We will then need an additional $5,000- if we receive a referral for two children. 
4. Pray that we would indeed be able to travel to Uganda as early as potentially July for the required court dates and to bring our new child(ren) home. 

We leave you with some links recently put together by Heather Green, a short term missionary serving at GSF. It is still crazy to think that one or two of these could be a part of our forever family soon. Enjoy the pictures and the video.

• http://gonetouganda.com/2013/04/13/update-photo/ 
• http://gonetouganda.com/2013/04/06/update-recap/ 

Thanks for your continued prayers and support for our family. Blessings to you all!

Take care,
Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, and Caleb

Quick Praise & GSF Video

I know, two postings within a span of less than a week.  Good grief!

Anyways, we wanted to share two quick things with you:
1. A Quick Praise: Thanks for your continued prayers and support for our adoption process.  Did you notice the thermometer jump on our blog page?  We received word today that a lady (name withheld intentionally) that we never met at a church that we have never attended that supports us (yes, you read that right), specified in her will that a gift be given to our family.  She was an active supporter of missions and simply wanted part of her estate to go to us.  Crazy right!  Not in our Father's world.  So, now we are now at 78% of our projected need of $15,000, which is the projected amount for us to be able to adopt one child.  We are still being considered for multiple children, which would add an additional $5,000 per child.

2. GSF Video: The amazing folks at the Good Shepherd's Fold have a new promo video for their ministry, and you can see it below by clicking on the link.  It's still hard to fathom that one or more of these children in this video could be a Beeson in the near future and have a forever family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hGnUDrsdhE

Romans: 8:14-16
For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God...you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba (Daddy!), Father." For His Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children.

Blessings to you all!
Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, & Caleb

A New Home & Now Moving Forward Again

First of all, a late Happy New Year to everyone!

We are now settled in our new home in Pennsylvania, which means that we can move forward again on our adoption process.  We moved in the third week of December, and the major renovations were finally completed the first week of January.  Our children have started off well in their new schools.  Zoe is attending a school that is two blocks from our house, and Micah and Caleb are attending preschool about 10 minutes from our home.  We have also been regularly attending a new church, and we are in the process of becoming members and seeing how we best fit and can be used in this church.  Joey has taught a mini-term course at Cairn University, and the spring semester starts next week. The pause phase of our lives over the past six months is ending! :)

As mentioned in our last posting, we are close to receiving a referral.  The Good Shepherd's Fold has some potential fits for our family, and we had a good recent conversation with their director.  Most likely it is appearing at this point that we are being considered for a sibling group.  Zoe definitely wants a sister, and the boys both want another brother.  We may get both, and we are excited about what the Lord has in store for us soon.

However, we need your prayers for our latest delay (which is on our end versus GSF's end).  As a result of our move from Mississippi to Pennsylvania, we are required to revise our home study based on our new address.  This seems like a simple thing, but we are finding it to be quite difficult.  Please pray that God will lead us to the right social worker in Pennsylvania who will be able to help us navigate this revision process.

Also, thanks to some year end gifts, we are now at 72% of our projected need of $15,000, which is the projected amount for us to be able to adopt one child.  If we receive a referral from GSF for a sibling group, we will then need an additional estimate of $5,000 per child for this process.  We appreciate your continued prayers for our family and that God would meet our remaining financial needs to make this process a reality.  As always, we also want to thank you for your consideration as to how God may use you to put us in a strong position to be able to say yes to a referral soon and continue this process to providing a forever family for a child or sibling group.

Blessings to you all,
Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, & Caleb

That's My Boy! He is Mine! That's My Girl! She is Mine!

This morning I was in the middle of grading, and I needed a break.  So, I went to check Facebook.  I know this is dangerous, and it really has the potential of disturbing productivity for the day...here is one of the postings that was right at the top of my news feed (thanks Jessica for posting this):

Can you hear God shouting from the heavens, "That's My Boy!  He is Mine!" or  "That's My Girl, She is Mine!"  Whew....it took quite a while to recover from this video and the message therein.

I then read another post a little further down on Facebook that stated, nearly one-third of families in the United States consider adoption, but only two percent actually are willing to see it through and allow a child to have a forever family.  Beyond the strong leading for years from God, this is why Sarah and I are pursuing adoption.  We want to be able to say when our referral comes in the near future, we will also do everything it takes to say "yes, that's my boy, he is mine, welcome to our family!" or "yes, that's my girl, she is mine, welcome to our family!"

One of my favorite quotes is from Hudson Taylor.  He said:
"I have found that there are three stages in every great work of God: first, it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done."

Though Sarah and I are the ones specifically being led to say yes to a child or sibling group to joining our family, it will take many of you to help make this happen.  From the Taylor quote above, we are beyond the impossible stage, but we are definitely in the difficult phase.  We are never completely comfortable asking for financial support, but after being missionaries on partial support for over eleven years, we know that the truths of Matthew 7:7 and John 14:13-14 have rung true over and over throughout the years.  State the need, ask, and see how God will use people around the world to respond.  You can see the information in the top right hand corner about our remaining need and how you can support our family.

We are potentially as early as simply weeks away from being in a position to receive a referral from The Good Shepherds Fold in Uganda.  Depending on the timing of the referral, we may be travelling to Uganda within a few months to meet our child(ren) and bring them home.

During this season of giving with Thanksgiving and Christmas, will you give financially to our family to help make this adoption process a reality?  Will you pray for our upcoming homestudy revision process to go smoothly?  Will you pray for the staff at The Good Shepherds Fold for wisdom to know the right match of child or sibling group for our family?

Thank you for your consideration as to how God may use you to meet this need and putting us in a strong position to say yes to a child or sibling group.  May God bless you this holiday season.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Be blessed,
Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, & Caleb

Life on Pause

Wow, has it really been nearly five months since we updated our blog?  We realize that this is way beyond acceptable, so let’s break the silence and let you know what has been occurring in the Beeson household over the past few months. 

Sarah said it best a couple weeks ago, it has felt like the pause button was hit on our lives since we made the decision in May to move from Mississippi to the Northeast.  So, without trying to bore you too much, here are some brief highlights of the past few months.

• May: We put our house on the market after Joey accepted a new job to teach at Cairn University (formerly called Philadelphia Biblical University) in PA.
• June: We started the craziness of packing and moving.
• July: We started the tough process of saying goodbye to our friends and church in MS.  After a two day journey, with Sarah’s parents there to help, we arrived at their house on July 29.
• August: Joey started his new job at Cairn, and we found out that all of our children were accepted to be able to go to school in the district where Sarah’s parents live.  This was a major praise for Micah and Caleb so that their speech delay needs would continue to be met. 
• September: Our kids started school right after Labor Day, and we finally started getting into some good routines while living with Sarah’s parents.  We also started looking more for a new home; we did make an offer on a home in PA, and it was accepted.
• October: Closing on our new home was set for the end of the month, but then Hurricane Sandy paid a visit to the area.  So, we continued to wait for closing to be rescheduled.  We also had a good update conversation with Good Shepherd Fold (GSF) related to our adoption process, which is further detailed below.

While Joey is thoroughly enjoying his new job at Cairn University, we are ready to begin to make some roots here.  We have enjoyed our time living with Sarah’s parents, and we are extremely grateful for all of their help with this transition so far.  The kids have especially had some invaluable time with their grandparents. 

However, it has been difficult transitioning to this area with the unknown of where we would live, where we would go to church, where the kids would go to school, etc.  Through all of this, God has been faithful and is continuing to teach us to surrender to His will, timing, and plans.  

We do have some great news that occurred on November 1.  We were able to close on a new home, and we will be moving soon to Morrisville, PA.  We will live two blocks away from our kids’ school, and it will only be a 10-15 minute commute for Joey to work.  We will also still be around 30 minutes away from Sarah’s parents.

Not only will this give us the space to begin a new chapter as a family, but it also places us in a position again to be able to restart our adoption process.  A major component of an adoption process is the home study, and because of our move from MS to PA, we will need to specifically revise the section related to our actual house.  We appreciate your prayers that we will find a helpful social worker who will guide us through this process, and then after our home study has been revised, we will need to update our approvals with the various US government offices.  As mentioned above, we had a good conversation with GSF back in October, and it appears that things are moving again with children to be placed, so we are hopeful the timing of us revising things on our end will coincide with processes in Uganda and at GSF. 

Would you commit to praying for the following for our family?

1. The sale of our home in MS.
2. A smooth transition into our new home in PA.
3. That God would lead us to a new church home and a new set of friends, connections, etc.
4. A smooth transition for our kids into a new school.
5. A smooth home study revision process and that God would lead the leadership of GSF in making a referral to us in due time.
6. That God would provide for the financial needs related to our adoption process.  We are open to a single child or a sibling group, and so far God has provided nearly $9,000 toward the estimated need of $15,000.  If we do get a referral for a sibling group, this would increase our financial need. Information for supporting our family can be found on the top right-hand corner of our blog, and do feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Blessings to you all.  Have a wonderful November!

Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, and Caleb

PS: Here are some fun pictures of our family from the past few months.

Zoe with Annie & Lorena before leaving Mississippi.

Zoe & Micah with their cousin Rhys in Texas.

First day of school in New Jersey.

The boys love riding the bus!

Riding on Thomas in Pennsylvania.

Micah on Thomas.

At homecoming at Cairn University

Post Hurricane Sandy damage at Mimi & Papa's House.

Are You Ready for This?

Okay, sorry to potentially mislead you…we do not have an adoption referral yet; however, we do have some major news and a brief adoption update to share with you later in this posting.  A lot has certainly occurred in the Beeson home since our last post on May 11, and we are excited to be able to share this now with the masses. 

Let’s start with the major news…we will be moving to the Philadelphia, PA area soon.  Yes, you did just read that last sentence correctly…around the end of July, we will be moving. 

Joey was approached by Philadelphia Biblical University (www.pbu.edu) earlier in the spring about his interest in teaching at the college-level in their school of education.  This has been a dream and vision for some time now, so when they approached him about this opportunity, we initially thought it would be for a part-time, adjunct role.  However, it was very clear in his first interview with the dean of the school of education in late April that this would instead be a full-time, on-campus opportunity.  He expressed his excitement and interest in this potential opportunity, but he was also clear about the concern of timing with needing to move in a matter of months and what this may mean for our adoption process. 

We prayed and sought wise counsel, and we decided to pursue this opportunity and see what would happen.  Joey went through an additional phone interview and then a Skype video interview with the school of education faculty.  He was then given the opportunity to fly up to meet with the leadership of the university in mid-May.  These interviews went well (though on May 16, he was in interviews from 8:30am to 4:30pm – what an arduous day).  Within a week, he received an offer, and we made the decision to accept it.  He will serve as an assistant professor in the school of education.  He will teach full-time as well as work with the supervision of student teachers and academic advising for education students.  He should also have the opportunity to start a doctorate soon, which would also expand his teaching opportunities.

Yes, we are no doubt excited about this new transition, but it is bittersweet too.  When we left Indonesia, we knew that we needed to a community that would help us rest, reenergize, and establish a new base for launch into future ministry opportunities.   We also had the sense that when we returned to the States that God would have us in Mississippi for three to five years.  It has now already been four years.  We have made some new wonderful friends, have been a part of a great small group, and it has been a privilege to get involved in various ministries at our church and in this community.

God has blessed us in so many ways in Mississippi that it is going to be difficult to leave.  Leaving the physical offices of NICS and NorthStar, our home/neighborhood, our church, and most of all our friends are not things we are looking forward to over the couple months.  We have already placed our house on the market (less than a week ago), and we are already beginning to obtain quotes for moving. 

We are not leaving NICS and both of us will still be serving at NorthStar Academy.  The beauty of an online school is that you can serve wherever you can be online.  Joey will continue to serve as principal, with a pared-down job description, and God has already provided others “in-house” to take care of these needs.  Sarah will continue to teach physical education and health courses too.

Now to a quick adoption update: A few weeks ago, we told our social worker here and the leadership at Good Shepherd’s Fold in Uganda about this potential transition.  The GSF staff continue to hit road blocks and dead ends on children already at the orphanage.  Multiple times they have shared with us that they were not convinced that our child(ren) were at the orphanage yet.  New children have recently come into the orphanage, but the lawyer for the orphanage has recommended that a minimum of six months be given to working through these new children’s cases before moving to try to make referrals.  So, not only will this transition/move not negatively affect our adoption process, but we even have some “extra” time to get settled in the Philadelphia area and update our paperwork before GSF is able to move forward on potential referrals. 

Would you pray for this transition for our family?  Here are some specific prayer requests:

• That we would leave well and that the process of saying our goodbyes would be sweet.
• That our house would sell quickly (we have already had two showings).
• That we would be able to find the right home in the right school district.
• That we would be able to find the right preschool situation for Micah and his needs.
• That Joey would start off well in his new role at PBU.
• That God would quickly provide us with a new church home and network of friends (and that we would be able to connect with “old” friends too).
• That we would have a great time living close to family for the first time ever (Sarah’s parents only live 30 minutes from the university).
•  That God would continue to direct the staff at GSF with children to be referred for adoption.

We will be leaving around the end of July, and we will be staying with Sarah’s parents for the foreseeable future, while we do house hunting and get our children started in school.  Though Joey starts his new role on July 1, he does not have to be on campus until mid-August.  Thanks again for your prayers!  

Blessings to you all!

Joey, Sarah, Zoe, Micah, and Caleb

Something in the Heavenlies, Maybe?

Hello everyone.  It is nearly the middle of May, and our wait continues for a child or sibling group from Uganda.  Social workers and the staff at Good Shepherd Fold continue their investigations, and we continue on the journey of faith here in the USA.  God is up to something, we can be sure of that; the when is still to be determined...  As we wait it leads me to pray, think, and ponder, what is happening in the heavenlies?  I share two song lyrics today on this issue.

Whatever you're doing inside of me

It feels like chaos somehow there's peace
It's hard to surrender to what I can't see
but I'm giving in to something heavenly.
Whatever You're Doing, by Sanctus Real

Surrender, whew that's a tough one, but it is exactly where God wants us to be with absolutely everything in our lives...On a lighter note, but certainly not one that includes less emotion, I often listen to Pandora at work, and this past week, I found a new station, "Broadway Showtunes" (I know what some of you are thinking, so get over it).  It has been fun to listen to many familiar tunes, many of which I have been able to see on stage at some point.  Then this morning I heard the familiar song "Maybe" from Annie.

I continue to wonder what our child or sibling group in Uganda is up to today.  Maybe they are already at GSF.  Maybe not.  Either way, do you think they are pondering some of the lyrics below?

Maybe far away
Or maybe real nearby
He may be pouring her coffee
She may be straighting his tie!
Maybe in a house
All hidden on a hill
She's sitting playing piano
He's sitting paying a bill!
Betcha they're young
Betcha they're smart
Bet they collect things
Like ashtrays, and art!
...So maybe now it's time
And maybe when I wake
They'll be there calling me "Baby"
Maybe
Betcha he reads
Betcha she sews
Maybe she's made me
A closet of clothes!
Maybe they're strict
As straight as a line
Don't really care as long as they're mine!
So maybe now this prayer's
The last one of its kind
Won't you please come get your "Baby"
Maybe


We are ready God to come get our baby, babies, toddler, toddlers, young kid, young kids, whatever you have in store for adding to the Beesons.

Thanks again for your prayers and support of our family as we continue on this journey - May God receive the glory in this process as we continue to wait on His timing!