Keller's Miracles

WE HAVE A WEBSITE!!

2011-03-14T19:54:00.000-07:00

Join us at jackkeller.org for the latest news/updates/posts on our journey with Jack.

Update on Jack

2011-03-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jackedwardkeller/journal

A New Year...New Beginnings

2011-01-18T11:38:00.001-08:00

I have to admit...I have been a horrible blogger. I love keeping up and reading other people's blogs but when it comes to updating ours - I fail miserably. One of my goals of 2011 is to do a better job of documenting our lives as a family. I especially want to do a better job of recorded and recounting the amazing ways in which God intervenes in our lives and shows Himself Mighty and Faithful.

With this new year comes excitement, but also a deep sense of our dependency on God as we sense new and different journeys and directions that the Lord is laying on our hearts. As we seek His will, we know that He will be and is faithful to lead us in His path. One of the several areas that we are seeking direction is in adoption. This week, we were overjoyed to hear that Baby M is now home from Ethiopia with his forever family. It sounds like he is doing amazing and for that, we are so thankful!! Over the last several weeks we have begun to ask the question, "What is next, Lord?" From the correspondence that we still receive from our agency, we have learned that we will need to completely update/redo ALL of our paperwork, beginning with our home study-dossier-and finally immigration paperwork. The guidelines in Ethiopia as far as the health history of both adopting parents has also changed since we first started the process and so we do not know what that means for our family, especially for Jack.

It seems like there are so many unknowns and it is sometimes hard to answer those people that ask us what our adoption journey will look like now. Honestly, we have no idea. What we do know is that God has laid adoption on our hearts, He has stirred in us a passion for orphans, we will be faithful to His call on our lives to adopt, and we will seek His timing in beginning the process again.

In the meantime, we will enjoy every precious moment that God gives us with Aaron and our new son/daughter. We will treasure our family of four until God moves to grow our family once again through adoption.

"Lord, I am amazed by you..."

2010-09-18T19:04:00.000-07:00

We are so excited to let all of you praying friends and family know that our beloved Baby-M has a forever family. (If you are not familiar with our adoption story or Baby-M read the preceding posts.) Over the last several days, we have watched God move mountains and demonstrate his most tender and precious love to place Baby-M in the tender-loving arms and hearts of an amazing family. Not only does Baby-M have a forever family, but his forever family happen to be some very dear friends of ours. Yes, God has been orchestrating a beautiful story for Baby-M and we have been blessed to watch it all unfold. I would strongly suggest that you read this amazing story from Baby-M's new mommy's heart at their blog: http://yearn4surrender.blogspot.com/. You will be truly blessed and will also be able to know how to partner with this amazing family through prayer as they prepare to bring Baby-M home to their forever family.

Learning how to let go....

2010-08-23T10:15:00.000-07:00

Adoption update...

Dear Praying Friends & Family,

For the last 2 ½ months I have tried to write this email to you…..but I just could never do it. Now we know why, the story wasn’t finished…God was orchestrating something so amazing and so wonderful for little Baby-M. We just needed to be still until He had finished writing the story. Now, God has given me release to write. As I do, the tears are flowing…tears of joy….tears of sadness….but mostly tears of awe as we consider what God has done for Baby-M.

At the beginning of June, Jack and I discovered that we were once again pregnant – expecting another baby February 6, 2011. At the time, things were not going well with Baby-M's adoption. His paperwork was not in order, his forms hadn’t been signed and court closure was looming on the horizon. Despite these circumstances, God gave us a great peace that He would work all of the details out.

About two weeks later, we received a call from our adoption agency that would forever change our lives. They told us that Baby-M's case was “hopeless” that his case was “impossible” and that we needed to accept another referral. Baby-M would be returned to his original orphanage to spend the rest of his life. We were heartbroken. It took several days for the realization to hit that Baby-M would never come home, that he would never meet his big brother, that we would never get to snuggle him, kiss him and or rock him to sleep. God was asking us to lay Baby-M down…..our Isaac. Even though we shed many tears, we never stopped praying for Baby-M and for his release because we knew that “impossible” was not acceptable because nothing is impossible for our God.

That brings us to today. Last Thursday, we again received a call from our agency…one that we didn’t expect. This time the news was much different. This time with great joy in her voice, the director of our agency told us that Baby-M's papers were in order, his papers had been signed and he was ready to come home! God has done the impossible!! Baby-M has been released – our prayers have been answered and we are once again in awe.

As I talked to our agency about Baby-M's projected homecoming date, she said that if everything went smoothly, Baby-M would come home the end of January – beginning of February…the same time our second baby is due to be born.

Once again, we were faced with a decision – one that we never thought we would be making. Our agency granted us the weekend to pray about how to proceed. They said that even though we were pregnant that would let us proceed; however, they needed us to be absolutely sure that we could proceed…that we were aware of the fact that both of these children would be arriving in our family at the same time. They wanted us to consider all that that would mean for both of these children and our family.

It is so difficult to write the rest of this email….there were many things that we needed to consider, special circumstances that couldn’t be ignored, we prayed about what would be in Baby-M's best interest, new baby’s best interest….for us the most unselfish thing that we could do was once again lay Baby-M down, but this time it wouldn’t mean him going back to an orphanage….this time it means that another wonderful adoptive family will have the privilege of calling him son.

I have to be honest, I was afraid to write this email….afraid that our decision would be judged, that we would be judged, but I rest in the fact that we are making this decision because we want what is best for Baby-M. We want to be fair to him and his needs. We want Baby-M to be given the care, attention, bonding time, etc. that he will need right away that would be difficult for us to give with his homecoming overlapping with new baby’s birth.

Either way, Baby-M wins! He is coming home….even if it is not to our home. We love Baby-M dearly. Jack told me last night, “Sarah, there will always and forever be a void in my heart for Baby-M.” Yes, there will be. Our hearts and arms will always ache for Baby-M, but in our sadness, we are rejoicing in the miracle that God has done to release Baby-M and allow him to be adopted. To grow up in a forever family!

And so it seems like our journey to Baby-M is complete…with the best ending there could be….Baby-M will have a home…parents that love him and rock him and kiss him and tell him how precious he is. We will continue to pray for the child that God has for us over in Ethiopia and look forward to the day when we will get to meet him/her.

Thank you again for praying and for standing in the gap for Baby-M. We long for the day that we can meet Baby-M and tell him about you and your faithful love and prayers for him, even if it is in heaven.

Sincerely,
Jack, Sarah & Aaron Keller

What Does It Mean to Live by Faith in the Service of the Fatherless? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

2010-05-11T08:57:00.000-07:00

What Does It Mean to Live by Faith in the Service of the Fatherless? :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

Verse for the Day

2010-05-11T08:53:00.000-07:00

Exodus 10:1-2

Then the Lord said to Moses, "Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. I've also done it so you can tell you children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them-and so you will know that I am the LORD."

Would it be that the events leading to Miki's release and homecoming would display the Lord's glory and serve to bodly proclaim to our children and theirs that THE LORD IS GOD!

New Hope

2010-05-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

Dear Family & Friends,
Our family wanted to send out a quick update and thank you email to all of you who have been on this journey of prayer and fasting for Baby-M these last several weeks. Today is May 9th. Today is the day that has been set aside on the Ethiopian calendar to indicate that from this point forward, families whose cases are submitted to court will need to travel twice. As I sit here and type this email, we don't have any additional or new information than we had several weeks ago when I sent out the first email concerning Baby-M's case other than that he still needs his approval letter signed.
Baby-M's form is still waiting to be signed and our case is still waiting to be submitted to the court. Although we have had many opportunities to be downcast and discouraged (some that we have taken), God has given us new hope.
Even though it seems that the situation has not changed, we trust and believe that we serve a Great God who is more than capable of moving the mountains that are keeping Baby-M in Ethiopia.
I would have loved to send out an email today proclaiming Baby-M's release or even news of a court date. Although we don't yet have that news, the news we do have is so much greater! God is God. God is in control. God is Good. God loves Baby-M...sees Baby-M... and WILL BRING BABY-M HOME!
God is at work...even though we we can't visible see the evidence of his movement in the situation with Baby-M.
I have been reading in Exodus this last week and have been so ministered to by the story of Moses. The Israelites were in desperate need of deliverance and God heard them and sent a deliverer to rescue them. We pray that He will do the same for Baby-M.
Thank you for being a part of this journey. Thank you for praying for our son. We ask that you would continue to pray for him as God brings him to your mind and heart. We will continue to send out prayer updates and any new information that we receive.

We often think and talk about how amazing it will be to tell Baby-M the story of his homecoming and these events are serving to make the story even more miraculous. How we long for the day to tell Baby-M about you and your prayers and love for him too. Thank you again for serving our family through prayer!

May God get great Glory through Baby-M's story and life,
Jack, Sarah & Aaron Keller

God provides....

2010-01-11T10:33:00.000-08:00

God is so faithful! It never ceases to amaze me how many times He interrupts situations to bring about His sovereign will.

These past several days we have seen yet again how faithful God is! On Friday, everything with our adoption seemed to be a giant mess. Important documents weren't where they needed to be, our paperwork had been filed incorrectly (instead of being filed as if we were escorting...they were filed as if we were traveling); however, God used each of these little setbacks to reveal His plan for how we were to proceed.

The New Plan:

I will be traveling to Ethiopia, along with a dear friend to pick up Baby M. We have never felt peace with Jack going just because of how oversees travel could affect his health. We want to keep Jack as healthy as we can so I will just be traveling. We also didn't feel peace about me going by myself and so God raised up a wonderful travel partner to accompany me!

There are still circumstances that we are waiting for God to work out, but we are confident that He will work them out in his timing!

Just today we found out that we have every penny that we will need to bring Baby M home! God has provided!!! He is so faithful....Three years ago, we didn't know how we would do it but God has and we have all of the finances that we need! Thank you Lord for ALWAYS providing for Your will to be accomplished in our lives!

"Did you think it would be easy?"

2010-01-08T17:29:00.000-08:00

my husband asked me tonight? "Well....I didn't think it would be this hard...." I replied.

Adoption.

This has been a long day.
This has been a long month.

Ever since accepting our referral it seems like time is standing still. Each day we anxiously wait for news...any news....that our case is progressing on the timeline but no news comes. We were fortunate to hear that our case was submitted to court, which is a huge praise! Today we encountered several "bumps" in the road. I am not able to share details at this point....Jack and I are just praying for the Lord's guidance and wisdom.

I didn't think adoption would be easy...but I had no idea how hard it would be....and we don't even have our court date yet.

This has been a humbling day where "our" plans seem like they are falling apart but we do know that God is for us....Time means nothing to Him - He is Master over time...that He can do what we can't and nothing is impossible for Him.

Progress!

2010-01-05T06:46:00.000-08:00

We heard from our agency yesterday that our case has been submitted to court....now we wait for an official court date!

Watch. Consider. Pray.

2009-12-24T10:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-23T19:13:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas from the Keller family!

We have so much to be thankful for this year. We celebrated the birth of our son, Aaron Matthew in June and are now expecting the arrival of our son from Ethiopia sometime this spring. As I sit here at the kitchen counter, I am thinking about a verse that Aaron and I read out of the bible while waiting for Jack to come home from work. We were reading in Luke 2 and there is a verse that always jumps out at me whenever I read it. "...but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often."

I feel a little like Mary tonight....my heart is full as I reflect back over the last year and look forward to the next. We have been so richly blessed. We have so much to rejoice over this year - a healthy son, the journey of adoption - and the referral of another son from Ethiopia, good health, a stable job, a warm home, food in the pantry, wonderful friends, precious family....

As a family we also faced the unexpected and had many opportunities to grow in faith and trust of our Savior - pre-term labor contractions, bed rest for 12 weeks, financial adjustments as I became a stay-at-home mom, the journey of adoption (it has many ups and downs :), on-going health concerns for Jack, praying and searching for a new church family....

Through the times of rejoicing this year and the times of refinement one theme is resounding in our hearts - contentment. We don't want to be a family that is only interested in the gifts & blessings of God. We want to be a family that is in love with the Giver! We want to be fulling satisfied in the Giver - not just in His gifts. God is enough. He is satisfying. He is beautiful. He is able to do more than we could ask or imagine. He is worthy of all that we are, do and have. He is the only one that will not disappoint us. His love for us is sure. His mercies are new each morning. He is our Father, Defender, Strong Tower and Rest.

May our greatest gift, Jesus, delight you with more of Himself today!

Placement Papers

2009-12-13T18:37:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got our packet of placement papers in the mail! Yay! We have one form to notarize tomorrow and then they will be back in the mail to our agency. We are hopeful for a court date in about 6 weeks time. We have had fun putting together a welcome packet for baby M. We have included a disposable camera and are excited to get to see pictures someday of these next few weeks that his nannies take of him and the care facility. These will become a special part of baby M's adoption book. There is a family who traveled yesterday to ET to pick up there children. We put in a picture request of baby M and so we are hoping by Christmas to have some more pictures!

Referral!

2009-12-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we got the phone call that we have been waiting for for a long time. Our agency called us to tell us that there was a precious 3-4 month old little boy that was in need of a home.

The miracles that surrounded yesterday were so sweet. Jack was working out of town and called me early in the morning to tell me that he had forgotten to take his medicine that he needs to take each morning. As a result, he was going to have to come back to town early.

I was on the phone with a friend when I noticed I had an incoming call. When I answered, the director of our agency asked me, "Is this a good time to talk about a baby." "Of course," I said!

As soon as I got off of the phone with our agency, I called Jack and wouldn't you know that he was just pulling into town. How sweet it was for him to be home so that we could read our referral email together and get to see the first picture of our little one together as well.

I don't think that we have ever had a day like yesterday....I think we felt every emotion in the book. Extreme joy and excitement while at the same time extreme sorrow and loss. That is the thing about adoption - our joy has been another person's sorrow, either due to poverty, sickness, death the list goes on and on. Today, if you are prompted, say a prayer for not only the children that are awaiting forever families, but also the birth families of these children.

Today I praise God that He is the Father to the Fatherless and the Defender of the Widow....that His love is pure....that He sets the lonely in families....and that He is our Ancient of Days!

6 Months!

2009-12-09T10:33:00.000-08:00

On Sunday, Aaron turned 6 months old. It is hard to believe that already 1/2 has passed since he was born. Our little baby boy is definitely growing up into such a big boy.

Aaron loves people! He loves being out in public and watching all that is happening around him. He is not scared to be held by other people and loves to smile back at anyone who smiles at him.

His most favorite activity is jumping...yes I think we have a very active boy on our hands! :) He also loves to put anything and everything he can get into his mouth. No teeth yet though. It is so precious to watch him explore his surroundings. When he discovers something new he gets so excited - his little hands and feet move like crazy and he lets out a joyful grunt!
Even though he likes to always be moving, he also loves when we read to him. He loves to look at the pictures and try to grab the pages.

We started rice cereal several weeks ago and he loved it! Aaron has also had bananas, avocado, and sweet potatoes. Even though he was a little suspicious about his big boy food at first, he has come to love all of the foods that we have introduced. I made squash and pears yesterday so those will be the next foods we introduce.

Aaron has such a sweet spirit. Our love for him grows daily! Happy 1/2 birthday little buddy!

It's Official!

2009-11-30T15:10:00.001-08:00

Wow! We can't believe that this day has finally arrived! We are now officially a waiting family for a sweet baby from Ethiopia. We have been waiting for this day for over three years now. It is surreal to think that our little one has been born half a world away and we are only a few short months from being able to meet him and hold him in our arms! Jack and I made the call to our agency together this afternoon to go off hold. We had to meet at the Federal building to be fingerprinted for the second time for some of our adoption paperwork. After we were done we called our agency. We are hopeful to maybe get a referral by Christmas only because we have been on the list over a year now. We are praying our little one is home in our arms by May, when our paperwork expires!

Beautiful Day!

2009-11-20T14:19:00.000-08:00

We have been so blessed by amazing weather today. My good friend S came over today to take some 6 month pictures of Aaron. It was so nice we ended up going outside to enjoy the afternoon and take some pictures. It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week and we were outside today with no coats on. Here is a sneak peak of the pictures that S took today of Aaron.

2009-11-19T16:49:00.000-08:00

2009-11-19T16:47:00.000-08:00

2009-11-19T16:34:00.000-08:00

Orphan Sunday

2009-11-08T18:19:00.000-08:00

Waiting....waiting....waiting

2009-11-04T11:23:00.001-08:00

For the past three years Jack and I have been in the process of adopting a baby from Ethiopia....for the past year our paperwork has been in Ethiopia and we have been on hold...for the past 5 months we have been waiting to go off of hold so that we would be eligible to receive a referral of a baby...we called our agency today to see if we could go off hold this month since our file expires in May...we were told we need to wait until next month....and so are waiting again....

4 months!

2009-10-16T13:47:00.000-07:00

Our little stud man (as he is affectionately called by his Daddy) is already 4 months old. He has been changing so much in the last couple of weeks. He has several new tricks including the ability to roll over, blow bubbles, chew on his toes (we have a very flexible son), and pet our dog, Charly. Our sweet baby boy brings so much joy to us. Two nights ago I was holding him and walking up the stairs after baby time. Daddy was following us and when Aaron saw his Daddy he would laugh and laugh and laugh. There is nothing that brings more joy to our hearts than to hear Aaron laugh in sheer delight.

Montana Bound...

2009-09-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

This last week our family made the long trek out to Montana to visit my family. This was our first car trip with Aaron and he did amazing! We had many highlights during our time in Big Sky Country including:
1). Precious family time.
2.) My dad had the opportunity to introduce Aaron Matthew to his congregation. What a special moment for Grandpa! We can't leave out the special moment that Grandma had introducing Aaron to her bible study group. :)
3.) Aaron had lots of snuggle time with Auntie Anna!
4.) Lunch at Sonic with Mom & Dad...mmmmmm..so good.
5.) Spa Day & Girl Time- my sister bought me a hot stone pedicure and it was wonderful. My mom and I also went to the Salon where my sister works and she did both of our hair.
6.) Picnic at Giant Springs.
7.) Time spent outside despite the crazy weather (100 degrees one day 50 degrees the next :)

I'm not sure why the first picture is upside down and I can't figure out how to fix it.

Sabbath Rest

2009-08-30T19:11:00.001-07:00

There are many things that we would like to be more faithful with in our lives and one of them is truly making the Sabbath a day of rest so today we decided to do just that. Instead of using today as "catch-up day" Jack, Aaron and I spent the day together. We did end up running a couple of errands and were blessed with some great deals (mostly thanks to Kmart Double Coupons we were able to get $54.00 worth of items for only $2.34!!)Tonight we had a pizza party out of the deck and read to Aaron out of the book of Mark. We just finished reading the story of Jonah and now we are on to the New Testament! We concluded our Sabbath Day with a beautiful walk outside!

Baby Love

2009-08-22T15:38:00.001-07:00

I love my little man!

The Farm

2009-08-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

Today Jack, Aaron and I went to Grandpa & Grandpa R's Farm for lunch. We had such a wonderful time. Aaron got to see all of the sheep and meet Oreo, the rabbit. He just stared and stared at Oreo and then wasn't quite sure what he thought of him (as you can see by his sad face in the picture). We toured Grandma R's garden and even got to bring home some delicious veggies to enjoy later.

Bath Time & Park Fun!

2009-08-17T18:21:00.000-07:00

Who would think that you would need to bundle up to go to the park at the end of August....well that is what we did tonight! We took our friend Katelyn and Aaron to the park. Aaron fell asleep on the walk to the park so slept through his first park outing!

5 1/2 weeks!

2009-07-14T18:44:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that Aaron Matthew is already 5 1/2 weeks old. We have cherished each and every day with him. He is such a content baby and has brought so much joy to our lives. He loves to go on walks, be outside, listen to music, and snuggle with his daddy! Hope you enjoy the new pictures!

Aaron Matthew Keller

2009-06-12T11:55:00.000-07:00

Born: Saturday, June 6th
8:43 pm
8lbs 6oz
22 in

32 weeks 6 days!

2009-04-17T12:27:00.000-07:00

We had a dear friend of ours come to our house last night to take some maternity pictures and here is a sampling of what she took!!

Great News!

2009-04-07T15:17:00.000-07:00

I love getting great news!! We just got back from my doctor's appointment and my doctor said that I only have 4 more weeks of bed rest! We will be 32 weeks this week and he said that at 35 weeks I will be able to increase my activity level and then at 36 weeks I will be done with bed rest all together! What is extra sweet about our great news is that my last official day of bed rest happens to be Mother's Day - May 10th!! The doctor also said that if the baby decided to come at 36 weeks that he should be just fine with there being only a "rare" chance of him having to go to the NICU. Both Jack and I are rejoicing and celebrating our great news and counting down the days until we are Mom and Dad! Yay!

9 weeks and counting!

2009-04-05T08:58:00.001-07:00

It is hard to believe that we are already 31 weeks pregnant and will very soon be able to meet our "Little Man," as we have now started calling him. These past weeks have been an awesome reminder of the goodness and faithfulness of God, despite times of refinement and trial. As I count my blessings I praise God for:
1. The fact that I am still pregnant, which means this little baby is growing stronger by the day!
2. Bed rest - despite the fact that I will remain on bed rest for the duration of my pregnancy, God has used this time to refine me and teach me so much about Himself. It has truly been a blessing that I thank Him for often!
3. My husband who shows me the love and humbleness of Jesus daily! I am so thankful to have been blessed with such an amazing husband that delights in being able to take care of us and take over the responsibilities of the house when I have been unable to!
4. Friend & Family who have come around us during this time and showered us with love and hospitality.
5. Protection - despite the flood in Fargo and the impending second crest that they are predicting we have remained high and dry with no water in the basement!
6. God's Word - How precious to me are your thoughts, O God and how vast is the sum them!
Today, I am most thankful that God is our TRUST. Despite the world around us that seems to be spiraling out of control, I am so thankful that God is our Savior and our Rock. He delivers us from all of our fears and gives us the ability to trust Him each step of the way! May He guide each of us to Love Him more and Yearn with greater passion and longing for His return!!

Powerful pro-life video: I'm Holding a Miracle :: Pro-Life :: ProLifeBlogs

2009-02-26T09:12:00.001-08:00

Powerful pro-life video: I'm Holding a Miracle :: Pro-Life :: ProLifeBlogs

Posted using ShareThis

The results are in......

2009-02-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

I just got a call from our midwife and the results of the fetal fibronectin test are NEGATIVE! This is a true negative meaning that the results on Monday night were a false positive. This means that there is virtually no chance that I will go into labor in the next two weeks! I will remain on bed rest through next Thursday when I go into the clinic to be reassessed! God is so good...His goodness no one can fathom!!

Light Bringing Gift of Jehovah

2009-02-20T07:14:00.000-08:00

These past days have brought us so many reasons to be thankful and added opportunities to trust in Our Rock and Fortress.

Monday night I went into the ER for preterm labor contractions. Both baby and contractions were monitored for a couple of hours and a test was performed to indicate preterm labor. The test came back positive and so I was given a shot to stop contractions and put on strict bed rest until further notice.
Jack and I went back to the doctor yesterday for an ultrasound and three other tests. Baby couldn't have looked better on ultrasound...baby was 1 pound 12 oz, and was measuring right on schedule for 25 weeks. It was so precious to see our little one again! We were also given great news that I had plenty of amniotic fluid and my cervix was long and closed. We are awaiting the test results today, but are very hopeful that they will come back negative with the diagnosis being preterm contractions and not preterm labor. I learned that there is a big difference! :o)
We are so thankful for this little bump in the road. God has been so faithful to us by giving us amazing peace and hope. We haven't been fearful or anxious, which is such a testimony to the power of prayer and the Holy Spirit.
I will keep you posted on our test results............

Week 24!

2009-02-15T10:45:00.001-08:00

Ultrasound!

2009-01-22T10:16:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday we went in and had our ultrasound. It was such a neat experience. The little babe was resting and so he/she wasn't moving around too much. It has its little hands up by his/her face almost the whole ultrasound. It will be interesting to see if our little one sleeps like that after he/she is born. Baby was in the 63% percentile for weight and the heartbeat was 147 bpm. They did move our due date up 4 days to June 4th. I have gained 10 pounds in the first 21 weeks and I am actually starting to look pregnant! We are so thankful that everything went well and baby looks good!

Reflecting on God's goodness

2009-01-10T16:25:00.000-08:00

So far 2009 has been filled with amazing reminders of God's goodness. After we got home from spending a wonderful 9 days with Jack's family in Minot, we received a notice in the mail indicating that we were selected to receive a $3000.00 grant from Steven Curtis Chapman's organization, Shoahannah's Hope, towards our adoption expenses. WOW! We also got a letter from our adoption agency letting us know that in 2009 our adoption expenses would be increasing $500.00. Wouldn't you know that that same day we got a check in the mail from some dear friends our ours for $500.00. These evidences served to remind us that God's hand is leading us and He is providing for our needs. A year ago we were really at a loss trying to think how we could come up with almost $20,000 to adopt....here we are a year later and God has provided all the money we need to adopt our son or daughter. Jack and I are just overwhelmed by how God has provided for His will in our lives!

In addition to our praises on the adoption front, today marks pregnancy week 19. It is hard to believe that next week we will be half way done with this pregnancy. I think that I have felt the baby move, but I am a little uncertain since I have never done this before and I am not exactly sure what it feels like. We have our ultrasound scheduled for January 20th....can't hardly wait to see this little one up on the screen. :o)

Blizzard and Snow Days!

2008-12-14T17:14:00.000-08:00

So we officially are having our first blizzard of the season. It started snowing last night and hasn't stopped yet. We have snow drifts in our backyard as tall as I am...which makes it very hard for Charly make his way down the deck to do his business. The blizzard isn't supposed to end until tomorrow morning...school has already been cancelled! So that means a snow day for me and a work day at home for Jack tomorrow!! Little blessings from above!

Pregnancy Week 15!

2008-12-13T16:17:00.000-08:00

More blessings of 2008!

2008-12-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

Well it seems like God is growing the Keller family by leaps and bounds! After contacting our adoption agency, we learned that our paperwork has been over in Ethiopia since October 22nd! That means that we would be able to get a referral of an infant boy next month...the only thing is that since we are pregnant...we will have to be put "on hold" until June. After Baby Keller is born, we are able to go off of "hold" status to receive and accept a referral. After that, it will be 4-6 months until Baby Hope's homecoming! That means that we will have two children under one years old at this time next year! Although we are thankful for the precious time that we will get to spend with our biological child...we are so very anxious to bring our little boy/girl home from Ethiopia. Since we started the process last October...the entire process will take a little over 2 years. We trust that God's timing is perfect and so we believe that God is preparing us to receive a double blessing...everyone tells us that we will be "busy". I can't think of a better "busy" to be...I have dreamt about being a mommy since the time I can remember and both Jack and I look forward with longing to hold our two precious children in our arms!

There won't be just two Keller babies next year....three Keller babies will join the family in 2009. We found out that our brother and sister-in-law are also pregnant and due in July. Oh how sweet to experience the miracle of this baby too! God is so good!

An Unexpected Miracle!!

2008-11-10T16:19:00.000-08:00

"I prayed for this child, and the LORD has granted me what I asked of him." 1 Samuel 1:27

During the week of September 29th, I had the joy of sharing the story of Hannah with my Pre-K students. We talked about the faithfulness of God and his ability to answer even our most "impossible" prayers. Little did we know that God was in the midst of doing a Hannah-sized miracle in the Keller family!
On October 3rd, God showed Jack and I how truly BIG He is! We discovered, to our complete surprise and joy, that we were pregnant! Many of you know the journey that we have been on the past couple of years, but for those of you who don't...we were told that we might never be able to have biological children. I am not sure what exactly Hannah felt after the Lord allowed her to conceive Samuel, but I am sure that I felt something similar.
For days, Jack and I secretly rejoiced in this miracle! We were beyond thankful to think that in a year...we will have two miracles...our beloved Ethiopian child and a little Keller.
A huge answer to prayer was answered just days after we found out that we were pregnant. We contacted our adoption agency to find out what the protocol was for pregnant families in the process of adopting (something we had never even looked into). We found out that they were very supportive of pregnancy and allowed us to proceed as planned. It was just another evidence of God's hand upon this whole journey.
On Monday, November 3rd we went to the doctor and got to hear the baby's heartbeat! What a thrill that was. We are 10 weeks along and we are due June 7th or 8th.
Praise be to the God that does do above and beyond ANYTHING that we could ask or imagine!!

Coins for Baby Keller!

2008-10-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

I have the privilege of being the Pre-K director at Park Christian School. Over the past month, Park students and families have been collecting "Coins for Baby Keller." Each of the grades, Pre-K through 3rd grade have been collecting spare change as a fundraiser for Jack and I to be able to bring Baby Keller home. It has been amazing to see the joy and excitement of the children as they have brought in their baggies full of pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters and dollars.
Two children gave their allowance to Coins for Baby Keller for two weeks straight, two other girls held a lemonade stand in order to raise money. Children emptied out their piggy banks and did extra chores around the house to raise extra money to bring in. Jack and I were beyond blessed to see the eagerness these children had to give.
Today at chapel, Jack and I were awarded over $1700.00 that the children had raised! Amazing! Needlesstosay, we were speechless and found it hard to have the words to offer adequate thanks. Our God is our Provider - how amazing that He used each child and family in this journey to bring Baby Keller home!
The blessings continued to pour down as we discovered that all of the news stations and also the local newspaper were at chapel! God provided yet another opportunity for Jack and I to speak out about adoption and advocate for these children. What an amazing opportunity God gave us to further spread the message of adoption!
To God be the glory!!

We love pizza!

2008-10-11T15:53:00.000-07:00

Fridays mark an exciting event at our house....Pizza making night! We spent a wonderful afternoon with some good friends of ours a couple of weekends ago and she made the best pizza that we had ever eaten, so of course we had to get her recipe. Thanks Shelly! So last night Jack and I made her BBQ Chicken Pizza and it was amazing. I have to pass on the recipe to you all. Hope you enjoy!

Pizza Crust
2 1/2 C Flour
1 Tbsp. yeast
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
Mix dry ingredients together.

1 C. very warm water
1 tbsp. oil
Mix into dry ingredients with a spoon until it all sticks together. Pour onto floured surface and knead till smooth. Put in greased bowl and cover to rise (until doubled).
Roll out on floured surface and top however you want. Bake in 450 oven for about 15 minutes.

For BBQ Chicken:
Spread a thin layer of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. Top with chopped cooked chicken, pineapple tidbits, thinly sliced onion and cheese. ENJOY!

Amazing Video from John Piper!

2008-10-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Ethiopia...here we come!

2008-10-09T17:59:00.000-07:00

"In love He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will - to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves." Ephesians 1:5

How thankful we are to be able to be a part of the miracle of adoption. Our journey to our beloved Baby Hope is already nearing its one year anniversary. Last October is when Jack and I started praying that God would give us a love for what He loves. He did that by drawing our hearts to the orphans of the world and the great need for families to love and adopt them! We are now only months away from being referred a child from Ethiopia. We received a notice in the mail today from the Department of Homeland Security US Citizenship & Immigration Services informing us that our I-600A form is being processed and should take about 90 days. Although 90 days seems like a long time, we trust that our Creator God holds each day of this journey and we trust His Sovereign timing of events.

After our I-600A is processed, our paperwork goes over to Ethiopia and then we are officially on the waiting list! We are anticipating our new arrival sometime in 2009, and our hopes are sooner rather later.