Excited!

God has been moving in the hearts of so many of his people and it is just awesome. At least five families in our church over the past couple of months have made the decision to adopt! We are praying for each of these families and asking for the Lord's provision! How awesome will it be on Sunday morning  to have the nursery filled with children from all over the world who now have safe homes and loving parents! Heather and I are thrilled to see God move this way and we are excited to see how He provides.

We are also excited for the start of February. I will be traveling to Montana with our missions pastor to speak at a pastors conference about the over 6,900 people groups who have not been reached with the Gospel Message. We pray God will move the hearts of these men to lead their churches to take up the great commission not only among their own communities but among the nations as well!

While I am in Montana, Heather and the boys will be with her sister in Murphy. There they are planning our first "Adoption Party". Heather and her sister have invited friends from around Murphy to come over for dinner so they can share about our efforts to adopt. After dinner Heather will have items  to sale that she has made or that our really awesome friends and family have donated. Its a great opportunity to get together with people to share about our God and the need for adoption as well as a fun chance to get creative and raise money too!

Praying God will be glorified in every way as He leads us on this journey.

Shannon Compton

Wow I love our boys!


I (Shannon) got to stay home with our boys yesterday because Heather was sick. I hated to see my amazing wife down for the count with a stomach bug but I really did enjoy spending a whole day with our two amazing children.


We got up early and watched Bob the Builder while we ate pancakes to start off the day. Then it was full throttle playing hard on the floor until Miles laid down and did his usual face rub into the night-night (blanket) letting me know he was ready for a nap. After Miles went down Will and I sat together and read a few books and then he played quietly while I attempted to catch up on the dishes and laundry. After the house work was caught up we played a bit on the porch (it was rainy so we couldn't go outside) and then when Miles woke up we had PB&Js for lunch. Will went down for his nap after that which gave Miles and I a little one on one time. We played with cars and trucks and books and all the kitchen utensils and crayons and everything else he could get his grubby little 14 month old fingers on! Soon he did the face rub again and we all got to rest for a while. Around 5 they were both up at it again. I cooked some scrabbled eggs, sausage and biscuits for dinner and taught the boys how to top a biscuit with just the right amount of butter and jelly. They wolfed it down and played hard until 7 when it came time to pick up toys and head to bed. After kisses, a bible story, more hugs and kisses, prayer and all the nightlights and music makers had been turned on I finally tucked them in for the night. We had such a great day! Wow I love our boys!


Kinda hard going back to work today but I am really glad that Heather is getting better. It made me think though; every child is such a unique amazing gift from God and there are so many little gifts all over the world without anyone to care for them. I pray that the Lord will stir up the heart of His people to see them, take notice, and do something to give them a home!


Shannon Compton

A letter from Micki:
When Heather and Shannon told me that they were going to adopt their next child from Africa, I was so excited!! I had, had a dream about a cute little dark skinned child that was a part of the family. I can’t wait to meet my new little great nice or nephew. Then a sense of urgency came over me……. One of the kids in my family is across the ocean, and needs to come home to her family that is waiting here to love and hold. Big brother…Will, can teach how to put out fires (a future fireman) and, Miles how to give good sugars, (Miles has the best kisses ever!!)
We need to get this child home to her family!!
Heather and Shannon came up with a great idea!! If five hundred people gave just 70 dollars, this little one could come home.
The only problem was I am broke over Christmas, Taxes, bills, the economy, a hundred reasons I didn’t have the money to give right now!! But…. what would you do for one of your children? I know you would do anything to make sure your children are safe, warm and fed.
So I made a commitment for 70 dollars even though I don’t have it! (Crazy right??) I prayed and asked God to provide the funds.
I work at a Spa in Brevard, doing nails and facials…. I receive tips for the services. The next day after work, I checked my tip folder, there was exactly 70 dollars!!!
So here was the answer, as always…
He is able…. 2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
Thank you for your help and prayers,
Aunt Micki

Have you ever felt like you are ready to throw up your hands in despair and just quit? I don’t know about you but life sure can make me want to lose heart sometimes. It is so easy for me to get lost in all the day to day difficulties of life and forget what I know to be true. Thankfully last night the Lord encouraged me through these verses during my quiet time.  

“I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the Goodness of the Lord in the land of the Living. Wait on the Lord, Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait I say on the Lord!” Psalm 27:13-14

As I read these words I connected with David. He had every reason to lose heart! Looking back over David’s life it was filled with one difficult circumstance after another. What did David do when felt like giving up? He remembered what He knew to be true. David’s faith in God kept him from losing heart no matter how hard things got. He knew both God’s character and His promises and trusted in Him completely. He believed whole heartily that he would see God’s goodness played out in his own circumstances and ultimately in the entire world when the promised Messiah came to establish God’s eternal Kingdom on earth. Because of his faith David was able to endure and overcome in every circumstance he faced.

David’s faith was like a mirror that let me see my own. It showed me how short sighted I had become lately. The Spirit of God reminded me as I thought about these verses that He is good and that in every circumstance I face I can expect to see His goodness if I trust him and remain faithful (Wait). Remembering this gives me new courage to trust Him and accept the things in life that are difficult or discouraging because I know that a dawn is coming that will put an end to this dark night we are all walking through. That dawn is the second coming of Jesus Christ who is the promised Messiah David believed would come. On that day the entire world will see God’s goodness and justice established forever. If I didn’t believe this to be true I would have no reason not to become cynical and bitter with despair, but I know that it is true and therefore I can and will endure joyfully looking forward to the Kingdom of God!

I am so thankful that this encouragement came at the beginning of this New Year. As a family we have some difficult (and some exciting) days ahead of us with raising funds for adoption and with Heather's dad's battle with cancer. I am also thankful for this promise that if we trust Him and wait faithfully He will strengthen our heart when we need it most. Knowing that our God is good and expecting to see His faithfulness we are starting this year with  joyful confidence!

 Thankfully in Grace     Shannon Compton

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

We are looking forward to this New year, we know that it will bring lots of wonderful memories, laughs, tears, pain, praise, love, loss, new friendships and prayerfully a new addition to our family <3

I know some of you have heard of our idea but I am putting it out there again for those who want to be a part of it.  We are trying to raise 35 thousand dollars. We have an idea, we made some cards to pass out to give info, ways to follow our story, as well as donate towards this mission. We ordered 500 cards and Shannon did the math, if EACH person that gets a card gives $70.00 we will have the money! So here is my thought... email me at heatherlynncompton@gmail.com with your address if you would like one for yourself OR to pass along to someone you know would be able to help and we will send them your way. This can be a fun way to get others involved and advocate for adoption... These sweet little kids need a loving home, and we want to inform people of the need, not only for our little family but also for families across the US to get involved for themselves and adopt and give a future to someone who is in need of the basic needs of life! Please let me know if you would like to help! I am excited to see what will happen with this!!! We will keep you posted. Love, The Compton's

I put this on facebook and FOURTEEN cards have been sent out as of today... This makes my heart happy, knowing with each card and each person that gives we are closer to our goal and therefore close to our child! We have also received $1,000 gift the other day. PRAISE THE LORD!!! Thank you for all your love, prayers and support! 

FAITH

We are getting so excited... but I have to be honest, I lay awake sometimes thinking how quick God can provide this money and drift off to sleep dreaming of holding our little one, but by the time I wake up I feel so discouraged thinking "how in the world can we raise this much money?" I quickly have to redirect my thinking! I was teaching Will and Miles a song yesterday, "God will make a way, when there seems to be no way, He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me!" as I sang this simple children's song, I realized I have a "grown up" faith not a "child's faith". He calls us to come to him as a child, with a faith that trust that he will indeed provide for us, love us and work in ways we can't understand. We as adults try to understand before we move... that is not faith, Shannon and I have decided to claim Proverbs 3:5-6 for this year! 

Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart, do not lean on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths! 

Heather

Adoption 101!

Heather and I were excited when we received our Ethiopian Adoption Program packet in our email last week. I printed off all the information as soon as I could and we marked a night on the calendar that was free to sit down together and sign the paperwork. On Tuesday night of this week we tucked the boys into bed and pulled up a chair at the dinner table to take the next step of our adoption journey.  After signing all the papers and reading the information we are really thankful for America World Adoption and the time they take to educate their clients on the entire adoption process. Here is what we learned Tuesday night together.

The first phase of the process is the application and dossier-building phase.  If you are like us you probably have no idea what a dossier is. We learned that a dossier is a package of information about the prospective adoptive family that is sent to the government of the country where the adoption takes place. It includes everything from an extensive home study done by social service professionals, to our medical history, marriage certificate, criminal background check and financial statement. We also have to complete several hours of education classes as part of our dossier as well. This phase can take a few months or more and can cost up to $6,300.00 according to the budget we have been given that lists all the fees for the forms and studies we have to submit. We also learned that America World Adoption provides us with a family coordinator that will help us with every step of the process including building our dossier! This will be the next step in our adoption journey once we raise the funds we need to get started.

After we have all our documents together, our home study completed, and classes are finished the next phase is submitting our dossier to the country we are adopting from. In our case that is Ethiopia! Our dossier will have to be translated and then reviewed by the government of Ethiopia before we are allowed to adopt. If they accept us as worthy adoptive parents then they will begin to send us child referral packets. These packets contain information about orphaned children that need a loving home. We will prayerfully consider each child and when we accept one of the referred children we move on to the next step. This will no doubt be the hardest phase of the process for us. How do you choose just one child to love and give a home to? Please pray for God to direct our hearts to the child he desires us to adopt! This phase of the process can cost up to $7,700.00 and can take up to a year or more.

The third phase of the process is our official acceptance of the child referred. American World Adoption will send in a letter of recommendation to Ethiopia saying that they recommend us as adoptive parents for the referred child and we send in a signed acceptance letter saying we accept and desire to adopt this child! Once the letters are received our family coordinator will secure us a court date in Ethiopia to begin the legal process of adopting our little girl. This phase includes two trips to Ethiopia for Heather and I. We will spend time with our child and fill out the legal paperwork on the first trip, and then on the second trip we will bring home our new adopted daughter! This phase can cost up to $20,000.00 (mostly due to travel and legal expenses) and can take a few months or more. Once we are home we start the final phase of our adoption journey.

The final phase includes post adoption paperwork and follow up visits. Once we arrive home we have to get all of our child’s US citizenship paper work finished and some follow up visits from DSS and American World Adoption will take place to make sure everyone is adjusting well. Once this phase is completed our little Ethiopian girl is officially a Compton and a US citizen!

It was great to sit down together and learn so much about the journey we are taking. It also gave us some real goals to set out in front of us. We are prayerfully considering how to raise the funds we need and stepping out in faith trusting that God will direct each part of the process. We know that there are no guarantees and that this journey could be a very difficult one but we are compelled by the love of our savior to step out and no longer just live for ourselves but to reach out and share that same love with those in need. We can think of no greater need than a child’s need for a family that loves them.

Will you pray for us as we take this journey?  If so please email us at thecomptonsjourney@gmail.com and subscribe to our blog at www.thecomptonsjourney.blogspot.com.

Fundraising Goal’s

Phase 1 = $6,300.00 (Dossier building and home study)

Phase 2 = $7,700.00 (Dossier submission)

Phase 3 = $20,000.00 (Travel and legal expenses)

Phase 4 = $1,500.00 (US citizenship and follow up)

Total = $35,500.00

*If you would like to donate to our adoption fund (we need to raise about $35,500.00) please click on the paypal donation button on the right hand side of the screen. Thank you so much! 

 

Sincerely

The Compton’s!