A little bit about our guy!

I am horrible at this whole blogging thing! These last two months have been a whirlwind!! We got "the call" we had been waiting for on Sept. 26th that we had a court date the NEXT week in Uganda. So, I had two days to get all my stuff packed and be on the plane. I got here and the next day went to get John from his babies' home. He has been with me ever since, almost a month. Mommyhood has taught me so much already, like how much I need to rely on my Father for strength and patience! With Johnny not being here, it has been a pretty difficult journey, but I am so thankful that I serve a God that is strong when I am so weak. Thankful that He gives me that extra burst of energy on the days I am so tired. Thankful that He has blessed me with an incredible husband, parents, and in-laws that have been such a source of encouragement. Thankful that He sent an amazing family to be my community here. One that loves and adores John! Thankful that a MS friend lives an hour away and is such an encouragement! There is something so so beautiful in the body of Christ! John is an incredible little guy. I could talk days about him. Some nights I just have to stay awake and stare at him. He's the cutest thing ever! It is so neat to see the transformation taking place within him. From not talking or smiling 3 weeks ago to now running around the room with a precious little giggle. My favorite things about our man so far: He has a sweet sweet spirit. His smile will light up the room. If I walk away for even a minute, I hear,"Mommy?" "Mommy?" He shares with other kids without even having to be asked. He's such a helper. If I am putting up clothes, he brings them to me. If he sees me sweeping, he gets the other broom and sweeps along. He loves to help! When he is talking to Daddy, he blows kisses and touches his nose on the screen. He loves his Daddy so much! I could go on for days. We are SO thankful for this little man who is wrecking our world! Adoption is such a beautiful thing! I will post pictures as soon as I can. We have to get a little further in the process to post pics!

We will have a son!!!

          A few weeks ago, our case worker from our agency emailed us and asked us about an ideal age for our child (a more narrowed age between 0-4). The NEXT day, I got an email with a sweet little baby face! My heart melted from the moment I saw his face. He has the most beautiful eyes! This. was. our. son. I could not stop looking at his precious face. A few days later, we received his official report. Our little guy has been through so much sorrow in his few years of life. I am so excited to be his mommy, but filled with an aching heart for what he has been through. I am so thankful that we serve a God who brings hope to the broken and holds the orphan in His arms. Needless, to say, these past few weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions! Excitement, nervousness, trust, etc., etc. 

           The courts in Uganda open back up after being closed for a month on August 15th. We should be receiving our court date soon! It is looking like Johnny will be getting off the plane from deployment to his son! What a beautiful day that will be! With the court date potentially being very soon, we are still in need of finances to pay the remaining agency fees and travel expenses. We have applied for some grants and loans, but may not hear back from grants until I am already in country. Would you prayerfully consider helping us bring our baby home? Here's how you can help: Homemade Cheesecakes for $25, Ugandan necklaces for $15, and any "junk" you don't want can be put in our yard sale! Also, you can make a tax deductible donation directly to our agency. When you do this you will receive a tax letter to write it off on this year's taxes. If you feel led to give, make your check out to Across the World Adoptions and put "The Campbell adoption" in the memo line. You can mail it to:
                                                       395 Taylor Boulevard, Suite 116
                                                              Pleasant Hill, CA 94523

          We are so thankful for your prayers and your support! We can not wait until our baby is with us and gets to meet the amazing community of people God has placed in our lives!

Rolling Along...

Two months down of deployment!!!! Four to go! God has been so so faithful in providing an amazing community and support system. It’s been amazing to connect with other women who are in the same situation (husbands are deployed). I would have never wished for a deployment, but on one hand it has been an incredible journey! Yes, there are many hard days, but yes, I also serve a Father who makes the weak strong and who brings joy to the brokenhearted! He has showed me so much about myself and is pruning me so much in this process. It’s a hard process, but I know that Christ will be glorious in it! Johnny is doing really well. He has gotten involved in a Bible Study and is getting to grow together in Christ with other believers! He is so exhausted, but he has not lost any joy (or that cute smile!). It is said that “absence makes the heart grow fonder.” I am learning this more and more every day. Every day, I get more and more excited thinking about the day when he gets off that plane! Every day is one day closer! As for the adoption, things are going so so good! As most of you know, we found out that we should be matched with a child in the next two months! We are beyond ourselves with excitement. One to three months after being matched, we (or most likely, I) will travel to Uganda for our court date! It’s looking like Johnny may be a daddy when he comes home from deployment!!!! The other day, I was kind of worrying about how we would raise that much money that quickly. I let my human nature get the best of me, wondering how WE would get the money, instead of how HE would provide! I had to place my trust in the Father about the finances, and he is providing! God is so good! I received a sweet letter from a child I used to babysit. She sent me a letter saying “I hope that this helps adopt the child” with $1 included. It still brings tears thinking about the compassion in sweet Natalie’s heart! If she only knew the difference she was making in people’s lives! Because of her sweet gift, I want to see how many people would take her challenge and give $1 to “help adopt the child”. When your donation is given, I will write your name on the back of a puzzle piece. When we have received enough to complete the puzzle, I will put it together and hang it in our child’s room. We want our child to know about all the wonderful people God has placed in our life to help us bring them home. Please prayerfully consider this. There are two ways the $1 can be sent. You can either mail it to us at 300 N. 38th Avenue, Apt. 13, Hattiesburg, MS 39401. Or you can donate via the Paypal link below.

      What a whirlwind these few months have been, but oh so incredible! After many, many hours of paperwork and education, we have completed our Home Study! Yes, COMPLETED!!! Our next step in this amazing journey is an appointment with USCIS (Immigration). We have really been praying that we would get in soon. God has answered that prayer! We got our appointment scheduled! That is a blessing in itself. Most of the time, it takes weeks upon weeks to get an appointment through them. We know that all of this is in God’s timing and it is requiring MUCH patience on our parts. He’s definitely growing us!

      God has been providing in so many incredible ways! One two different occasions, our pastor has received large donations for our adoption. It has been so amazing watching His provision over us in this time. There has been lots of fundraising going on. We have sold many cheesecakes and t-shirts. Also, The Venue (our church home) put on a yard sale for all the families in the church adopting. It was a great success, raising $2800 to be given to six different families! Speaking of those six different families… what an incredible adoption community the Lord has given us at The Venue Church! It is so exciting to live life with people who have adopted or are in the process! Would you continue to life these families up in prayer as well? These families are adopting from Ukraine, Ethiopia, and Uganda. It is going to be an amazing picture of people from all nations and tribes worshipping the Savior together!

     We are beginning to get the room set up for our precious one little by little. Out with the Queen bed, in with the Twin. It’s been so fun doing little things to prepare for our little one’s homecoming! From painting furniture to picking out sheets, more and more excitement is building for our child to be home. And can I just say, pictures of little Ugandans has always melted my heart. Now, seeing a little Ugandan child is on a whole new level of heart melting!!! Many days I just sit and think what our little one could be doing right now. Is he/she being cared for well? Is he/she getting hugs that mommy and daddy so desperately long to give? We pray that our little one feels the arms of our Savior no matter what circumstances they are in. We know that our God is a God who cares so much for orphans and widows and we know that He is watching out for our sweet one. This child is His. We pray that God continues to prepare our hearts to be mommy and daddy for the child that the Lord is entrusting us with.

     These lyrics have spoken so much to me as we have been in this process and I leave it as a challenge to all of us to live every day, loving “the least of these”:

Little hands, shoeless feet
 Lonely eyes looking back at me
Will we leave behind the innocent too brief
On their own, on the run
When their lives have only begun
These could be our daughters and our sons
And just like a drum I can hear their hearts beating
I know my God won't let them be defeated
Every child has a dream to belong and be loved

Boys become kings, girls will be queens
Wrapped in Your majesty
When we love, when we love the least of these
Then they will be brave and free
Shout Your name in victory
When we love, when we love the least of these
When we love the least of these

Break our hearts once again
Help us to remember when
We were only children hoping for a friend
Won't you look around
These are the lives that the world has forgotten
Waiting for doors of our hearts and our homes to open
If not us, who will be like Jesus
To the least of these

Thankful for Faithfulness of the Father!

    Johnny and I are in utter amazement at the friends and family that have been supporting the very beginning of this journey! Many happy tears have been shed at the faithfulness of our Father! He has been so faithful to provide all the money we need for our Home Study plus more in about 2 months!!!! We begin the Home Study on January 16^th!!!!! We are so so excited! (And that's an understatement… ecstatic is more like it J)! Our social worker is wonderful! She has been such a help already. We are looking forward to getting to know her even more in the coming months. Let's get this party started!!!!

    We had a great Christmas! We went to my parents' in Pensacola and had a great few days. We both needed a few days off to relax and be with family. In the midst of all the joy, I missed our baby. I didn't think I could miss a little one out there so much already. I found myself in tears imagining our child being there. They were tears from excitement, but burden at the same time. Maybe it's selfish, but I want my baby home! I am resting in the fact that no matter what circumstance they are currently in, our Father knows them and loves them. He is their comforter and their provider, more than we could ever be. And I rejoice that we worship a Savior who cares for His creation the way He does. I am thankful that our child is His wonderful work of creation! I cannot wait for the day when we get to see that beautiful creation.

    Please be in prayer for us as we begin the technical aspects of bringing our child home. The next year, we will face some big challenges, but we are trusting our faithful Savior to be our strength every step of the way. Thank you for praying and being a part of our journey!