What happened the day after Prayer and Fasting

Jeremiah 29:12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  God is so good to answer prayer!  The day after our group prayed and fasted about areas of the Ethiopian Adoption process several people were submitted to Embassy, some cleared Embassy and get to go pick up their babies and some passed court!  God is so faithful to answer when we come whether alone or as a group.  God so loves to hear from His children and we are so thankful for a God who takes care of us and all of His children!!!  A lot of times we are meant to just wait and learn through the time of waiting and in this time of waiting we not only grow closer to God if you allow yourself you learn more than you ever could if your prayer was answered immediately!!  At least that has been my case! :)  So treasure the times of waiting-God hears the crys of His children and He will answer with the right answer whether it is yes, no or maybe-God knows what His children need each and everyday like we answer our children.  We are able to see what is best for them because we see things differently than they do, just as God sees things differently for us!  Take time today and everyday for the blessings He has surrounded you with and praise Him daily for these blessings!!  In His Love, Cindy

Prayer and Fasting

Starting after dinner this evening several other adoptive families and us will be fasting and praying for the adoption process in Ethiopia.  Over the past year the process has slowed down quite a bit and a lot of that has been changes in the adoption system in Ethiopia and for the protection of the kids (which is so important).  It seems as if they are still trying to find their rhythm with the process or that is what it seems like to me. :)  The referrals have slowed, the court process seems to have slowed, and the Embassy process has certainly slowed which is holding up a lot of families from going to pick up their kids.  If you read this please say a prayer for the adoption process in Ethiopia and the families hearts that are waiting to bring our children home.  I know God is creator of all and in control of all, but there is power in prayer!!!!  God answers prayers and sometimes we just need to come together collective and cry out to our Lord for guidance and for movement!!!  God knows each and everyone of us and knows our needs, especially all the orphans around the world and I know He wants them to be taken care of and there are many ways each of us can take care of and help orphans.  We are not all called to adopt but we are all called to take care of the widowed and orphans: "learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow."  Isaiah 1:17 I only wish I had realized the extreme need for our help much earlier in my life and maybe I can share with you what we are commanded by God to do before you get to my age! :)  You may feel called to help here at home and there is a great need here as well in other parts of the world.  You can sponsor kids through some great organizations.  I have a link at the side of the post for the blog family-from-afar and she has some great information and some amazing stories of the kids and what sponsoring them does-it is an amazing read.  You can also donate items to pregnancy resource centers and many other organizations that raise awareness about children in need.  Anyways, I don't mean to harp, but there is a great need.  My husband and I were talking recently and we started this adoption process to add to our family and little did we know God had something else in mind as well and that is showing us the great need for these kids.  It is heartbreaking and just thinking about now, I have tears in my eyes.  I challenge you to just take some time and look into the faces of the fatherless and widowed-God wrote His words for a reason-He knew their need before any of us would ever realize it.  It is so easy to get caught up in what is going on within our own lives that we/I fail to look at what is around me and that saddens me that I have done that for so many years.  But there is always hope and faith in our Loving and Amazing God that He provides enough for some and even more for others so that we can help as much as we can.  God will provide for our needs and theirs and maybe today the need of an orphan will be meet by you!  Pray and see where God leads you and pray with us as we pray for the Adoption process to help some of the orphans be members of a family!!!  With Gods Love, Cindy

Thirty-One Fundraiser ends Jan 29

We are currently doing a fundraiser with Thirty-One.  You can order online by going to www.mythirtyone.com/tracyboren go to my events and click on Cindy Montoya and start shopping.  I decided to do the fundraiser this month for the awesome sale that is going on with their Thermal Totes only $10 or the new Cinch Tote only $15.  I wanted one of each so I thought why not have a fundraiser.  You can get the Thermal Tote personalized if you wish and it can be sent directly to your home.  You get a great product from a great Christian based company (based off proverbs 31 woman) and you also get to help raise funds for us to bring our child home.  It is a win win! :)  As always we so appreciate all you prayers, we couldn't do our adoption without you all praying for us!!!

Tuesday was a Great Day!!!!

Tuesday was a very busy day!  It started with hurrying out the door to get Isabella to school, heading to Church for Bible Study and then back to school at noon to pick up Bella and then we brought her friend home with us but first we had piano lessons, lunch finally got home so they could play and I could clean.  When her mommy got here to pick her up all the girls played for a while and then they left, grabbed our mail threw it by the door and started getting Bella ready for gymnastics on the way out the door I saw the mail and flipped through it and saw the envelope from Show Hope.  I paused should I open it now or wait until we get home?  If it is good news, I want to know now-if it isn't good news I never want to know....  I took a deep breath and opened it and started reading the first paragraph which said --First I should tell you what/who Show Hope is-they are a company who care for orphans through special care centers, impact projects and mobilizing churches to help.  They provide awareness and help and adoption aid.  Back in October we filled out all the paperwork to apply for a grant and the decision were due out this month, so you might understand better now why I was excited and nervous when I was picking up the letter.  So, now to what the letter said:

On behalf of Show Hope and the donors who make our grants possible, we rejoice with your family as you step out in faithe to experience the miracle of adoption.  Thank you for allowing us to be a small part of your adoption process.  We are pleased to inform you that you have been awarded an adoption assistance grant in the amount of $4000.

Needless to say I was bent over and crying big tears!!!  Poor Bellas says, "mommy what's wrong?  are you ok!"  I told her yes, I am just so overjoyed that God continue to provide for us for our adoption!  I said I am so happy and so grateful and humbled!  I can not tell you what a big relief that was to see those words and to continue to see how God is providing the way spiritually and financially for our adoption.  " For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Jeremiah 29:11  This scripture has been on my heart for about a month and this one has been in my head and a friend of mine posted it on my FB page "Philippians 1:6! He who began this work in you will finish it to completion."  God is so good to take each of us through our journeys, no matter how long or short or tough or easy.  He will always finish the work He has started in you, in each of us!!!  Praising our Lord for awesome news and He is working in our adoption yahoo group with bringing 2 referrals this week one to a family that has been waiting for 17 months.  What a great day to celebrate orphans being brought to their forever families!  God is good!!! 

Monday, Monday

Monday's are always such a hard day.  Trying to get back into the rhythm of the week.  Why is it so hard to get out of bed?  Maybe because we enjoyed just having family time together and hate to get back to the day ins and outs of what we do each day.  Oh well, it is here so we will conquer it with everything that we have and look at it as a new beginning to a week that awaits us! 

Not a lot going on on the adoption front since we are in the waiting stage, but I did finish up my Hep B series of shots last week and today I got my tetanus and then over the next few months we will all get our yellow fever, typhoid and menigitis and then I still need to get my polio and then I will be done besides finishing up my Hep A series in Feb.  Isabella hates getting shots and she gets so anxious about it-it is hard for a momma to see her child so nervous about something that you wish you could just get double and they would be protected.  So, daddy will be going with us to help out a little.  Good ole' daddy to the rescue- although I think it may be a little harder on him seeing his baby girl so upset, but we will get through it because it is for a great cause to give Isabella a little brother or sister that we all so desperatly want!!!  Anyways, I am off to fold the mounds of laundry my hubby did yesterday, thank you sweetie for you help, and then off to pick Isabella up from school!  I pray you all have a great day and enjoy this first day of the week because you never know what tomorrow will bring!  :)

This upcoming year!!

As we celebrated the New Year, so many thoughts ran through my mind, mostly will our child be with us this next year and I am believing that he or she will be here celebrating with us.  We can not wait, but know God's timing is always perfect even when it doesn't fit in with our plan. :)  I could not imagine going through this time in our life or any other's without our Lord leading and guiding us- I just don't know how people do it that do not have faith in Him???  I look forward to this year because each new year that comes is another year we have to strive to do better, be better and enjoy this time/moment in our lives.  Each day is a blessing, even though some don't always feel like it, but even those days are probably even more of a blessing because we made it through!

 This year we will be making a move to Texas and at some point be bringing our child home and although I get anxious with all the timing of everything all I have to do is pray and I find comfort in God's plan and know that even if it doesn't seem right to me-it is always just the way He planned it for us!  The scripture that I am continuing to find comfort in is:   For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  Jeremiah 29:11 NIV    This scripture pops into my head several times a day and has been for the past month and I find comfort in- I feel God is putting this on my heart so I know that He is there and that He is in control of everything and with that I find much comfort and I pray you do as well!  I pray that this year will bring lots of growth in the areas each of us needs it.  May God bless you this year and may everything we do bring Him the glory!  Here is to 2012!!!!