Words from Jordan

So Many Thank You's

Sarah told me that I should put something on the blog before I leave.  I'm glad she pushed me to do this since I never post on the blog.  If I have the time and I think about it, I will try to post writings while I'm deployed.

 

Besides all the thank you's that must be said, I've had something on my heart over the past couple of weeks that I wanted to share.  That will be posted in a separate post after this one.

 

I want this one to be short and solely a thank you to all those that have supported us with the international adoption we are currently processing and with the four wonderful children we have adopted and parented for almost two years now....time flies!!

 

I can't even attempt to thank each person by name.  I don't even know who they are.  Thankfully, our God does.  We've had people give us $10 and we've had people give us thousands of dollars.  We've received much of others' time, energy, and resources to put on fundraisers and we've received hundreds of dollars in kids clothes, arts and crafts, and toys for the kids.  It is easy to spell out the tangible things that we have been blessed with and the expense and from the giving hearts of others but not so easy to see the intangible things.  The prayers that we have been on the receiving end of and the countless words of encouragement to us as we move along this exciting yet taxing chapter in our lives have blessed us as much if not more than the tangible things.

 

I want to list several of Sarah and I's close friends and family that have given much of themselves in the form of their time, energy, money, and other resources to bless us and be a part of what God is doing in the lives of six of His children:

 

Scott and Fran Snyder, Kayla Snyder, Brandon and Domenica Snyder, Nicole "Aunt Tina" Fisher, Shelly Sandom, Carolyn Leiberher, Crystal "Aunt  Annie" White as well as the entire White family, Sheldon and Debbie Ames, Steven and Jane Allen, Sarah Williams, Katherine Wendling, Aaron Holman and the youth that he rallied to help us during the "Parents Night Out" fundraiser, Wayne and Heather Nowell for their constant, caring friendship and eagerness to always help us out, Pastors Dan Nold, Dan Dorsey, and Stacy Sublett and Calvary Baptist Church in State College, PA, and JT and Erin Bell who have blessed us with pictures and videos of our boys from Ethiopia.

 

If you are reading this and did not make the list, please do not feel inadequate or unrecognized.  We are truly thankful for the small gifts as well as the large ones.  I wanted to thank by name those that were involved in helping make our fundraisers happen as well as those that have been close friends and support to us over the past two years.  Those names are only a fraction of a percentage of those that have supported us.  Many have done what God has given them the ability to do and it has richly blessed us (Romans 12--the Body of Christ).  We are eternally grateful and so are our children.

 

One person that I have not mentioned and who deserves more credit than anyone else on this earth for making a difference in the lives of six wonderful children is my lovely wife, Sarah.  She is a wife of a deploying Marine, a mother of four and soon six, a wonderful cook, a caretaker, a homemaker, a financial manager, a teacher, a Sunday school teacher, a Sunday school administrator, and I could go on.  She sacrifices more than any woman I have seen and does it with love, compassion, humility, and an eagerness to give more.  I've tried to teach her to tell people "no" but she always insists on helping even if she really doesn't want to.  That is sacrifice and that is stepping out of your comfort zone.  She is a tremendous example for young and middle aged women and is a role model for teens and young adults.

 

Sarah:  You are my only true love and I will miss you dearly over the next five months.  I will eagerly await to be reunited with you and the kids and to bring home two more orphans in order to bless them with the opportunity to live out their full potential in Christ.  You are the strongest, most independent woman I know and I could not think of a better match for me as I constantly find myself engulfed at work.  I will never be able to thank you enough for all you are to our family.  I only hope that I will bless you half as much as you have blessed me.  I love you, sweetheart.