It's Finally Here!

Just wanted to let everyone know we are packing our bags.....and Annhaven's bag!  We leave to go and get her tomorrow morning!  Please cover our family in prayer over these next two weeks!  Pictures coming soon!!!  Praise the Almighty Hand of God!

Houston, we have a court date!

After a long wait since meeting our baby girl in early August, we finally have been assigned a date to be in Russian court in early November!!!  Guess what that means?...Annhaven will be OURS in early December!!!  Please pray for our upcoming trip to Russia.  We will get to visit Annhaven for about 4 days, have Russian medical exams, and stand before a Russian judge for legal custody of this angel baby.....and then leave the country without her one last time.  We come home and wait 30 days.  AND THEN, we travel for the last time to bring her home...

HOME...where she has a light bluish/grey room with a girly crystal chandelier...a white baby bed with soft, minky dot sheets...the sweetest dollie you've ever seen that her 3 big brothers made for her...and many special things hanging on the walls to bring joy......

BUT also, a brand new place that is strange to her - a quiet place compared to an ever noisy orphanage....strange food in light of the "mush" she is used to eating.....no other babies sleeping around her at night.....cars that make her nautious since the only time she's ever ridden in one was on her trip to the orphanage.....sights and sounds that can be scary since she's never left the 4 orphange walls....and where none of her little friends will be.....

We pray you see how much Annhaven needs God's Holy Spirit to speak calmly to her tiny heart....for this trip as we play with her and leave her again, for the next trip when we take her from the orphanage, for the trip home, and then for the beginning of a new life in our family.  WE see it as all good, but we have to remember she will be grieving some losses.  Please, friends and family, pray to our Heavenly Father, the ONE who sees all, and ask Him to give Annhaven His peace that passes all understanding.  We are praying this peace for each of you as well, dear friends. 

On another note.....when we made our first trip to the orphanage, we asked what we could bring back that might be of help, and the workers said "shoes!"  And boy, are they right!  The children wear shoes that are several sizes too small...toes sticking way out and all!  And they look like your great grandfather wore them, too.  So, if you didn't get to help buy clothing for the last trip, and you'd still like to do something, consider buying a pair of shoes for an orphan.  The shoes we take will stay at the orphange for the 1-4 year olds there.  We need boy and girl sizes 3 to whatever size a 4 year old wears..??? I don't remember???  Facebook me if you'd like to help with this. 

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for continuing to pray for us.  If God has layed a special prayer or scripture verse on your heart to pray for Annhaven, we would love to know about it!  We are keeping a special journal for her and would count it a privelege to have you be part of her life story.  May God bless you for your thoughts toward our family. 

Marcee
for the Watkins

Received

"Therefore RECEIVE one another as Christ has received you, for the glory of God"!

This is the verse I read on the morning we left for our first trip to Russia....on our way to meet a baby girl.

 Full of emotion, excitement, anticipation, and still apprehension, God spoke this verse into my heart, affirming HIS selection of this orphan for our family.  We were to go to Russia and RECEIVE her.....to move her from a "referral" baby to a "redeemed" daughter.....for the glory of God.  And the Glory of God showed Himself our very first day at the orphanage.  Having read many books on attachment and babies in orphanages, we had prepared ourselves to possibly meet a shy, unresponsive toddler, who probably wanted nothing to do with us - especially with Todd, since they don't see men really at all.  BUT GOD.....He loves to do this.....was in our midst.  When the orphanage worker walked down the hall holding her hand, Todd bent down just to get eye level with her.  She immediately let go of the worker's hand and toddled right to Todd, put her arms around his neck, and laid her head on his shoulder.  Swimming through tears, we hugged on her....and she gladly let us.  She smiled continuously.  As we played with her, she always wanted to be in one of our laps.  Each day, her shiny personality came out more and more.  The only time she ever cried was when we had to leave her.  But we RECEIVED her....for the glory of GOD!

Her name is Annhaven Clare Watkins.

We cannot wait to show her off to you.  Please be patient with us until we have things finalized.  We cannot share pictures or detailed information as of yet.  Just please pray.....pray for her to be safe, to be filled with hope and joy and peace; pray for our court date to come very soon; and pray that God will continue to supply our financial needs to the end.

To the Glory of God,
Marcee, Todd, Adlee, Sam and Jameson

Frequent Flyer Miles???

Someone asked us if there was any way they could donate frequent flyer miles to help with our travel costs.  The answer is yes!  Any flyer miles for Southwest or Delta could be used, depending on which airline we go with for in country flights.  If this is a way you might be interested in helping, please contact us.  Roundtrip flights for this first trip are running us around $2300/person. 

Please cover our trip and the meeting of our new daughter with prayer.  Here are some specific things to pray:
*safety in travel
*spiritual and emotional bonding with her and her with us
*comfort and peace internally for her, and us
*beautiful time spent with her at the orphanage
*family and medical questions answered
*safety/comfort for our boys as we are apart
*unity/oneness for Todd and me throughout this trip

Daily grateful for your words to the Father on our behalf,
Marcee,Todd and boys

God's Choice!!!

Well, after months and months of paperwork and waiting, WE HAVE OUR REFERRAL!!!  She is the beautiful, tiny 18 month old that God has chosen for us!  Of course nothing is in stone yet, and until we make our first trip in the middle of August, anyone from her country could adopt her.  Thank you for all of your prayers thus far, and please continue to cover her with words to our Father. 


*God's purpose according to HIS CHOICE will stand, not because of works, but because of HIM who calls.  Romans 9

"I will call those who were not my people, 'my people,' and HER who was not beloved, 'BELOVED.'
Romans 9:25

HE IS

Since beginning this blog, I am always finding myself feeling I need to post something more frequently...."something" for crying out loud.  And yet thus far, thankfully by the hand of God, I have waited on HIM to actually GIVE me something to say....what a concept.  Biblical phrases like "wait on the Lord" and "it's better to keep silent than run off at the mouth" have aided me greatly in this endeavor.  Having said this, below is God's latest impression on my heart...........

God gave me another "prayer song" for our baby girl.  As you might have read in an earlier post, Russian orphanages, or "baby houses" as they are called, are not known for being loving and physically caring.  We have been praying from the beginning that our baby will experience physical love and care from her orphanage workers.....at least one....and if not that, that she will physically FEEL God's love and care and touches by the Holy Spirit's work in her life already.  The lyrics to Mark Schultz's song, "HE IS" expresses our prayer so beautifully powerful:

"Father, let the world (her orphanage surroundings) just fade away
Let (her) feel Your presence in (that) place
Till (her) heart can see

He Is
He Was
He always will be
Even when it feels like there is no one holding me
Be still my soul
He Is

Through every fear, and every doubt
And every tear (she) sheds
Down every road
(She's) not alone
No matter where (she) is

Be still (her) soul
Be still and KNOW
Be still (her) soul.........HE IS.

Would your family please pray this along side ours?  Infinite thankfullness pours out for your committment to join us in speaking words of LIFE into this child God has set apart to know HIM.

Update:  All of our paperwork is circling through Russia and we are waiting on a call with our referral.  Specifically pray that God gets our paperwork to the exact orphange where BABY GIRL WATKINS awaits!  And thanks to all of you for your words of encouragement and affirmations of prayer!  Also, thank you for your generous financial giving...it's like refreshing rain drops that enable us to keep stepping closer!

Some very special raindrops came from 3 amazing kiddos in our lives:

Madelynn (11) and Jeremiah (7)  Layton, my niece and nephew, collected and rolled coins totalling $40! 
Heidi Courtway (13), one of my small group girls who happens to be adopted from China, collected $90 in coins!  Wow at what God does through children!

Tell HER Who She Is

Well, we FedExed our last few dossier documents today, and now they go into Russian translation!  After being translated, we will wait for THE referral! 

Thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, Christen and Chris Layton, and my cousins, Kelly and Chad Scott, Warrior Dash MS was great!  It was a cold, windy day to be crawling through wet mud and log-filled ponds, but they did it....every obstacle!  So thankful for my family and friends who sponsored them!  It's not too late to be a sponsor-just go to www.adopttogether.org/watkinsadopt

Adlee and I will be doing Warrior Dash AR together on May 12.
As I have been running, trying to gear myself up for this race, I have been listening to Sam's ipod.  One of his favorite songs is "Tell Me Who I Am" by Jason Gray.  I love this song, too.  But this week, God gave me a new way to pray this song, and I would like to ask you to pray this along with me........

for this baby girl we will be adopting.......

Lord,
When she loses her way in the orphanage, and she forgets her name
Remind her who she is.
In the loneliest places
Show her what grace is.

Because she's Your beloved,
Can You help this baby girl believe it....

Tell her, every day, who she is to You
Who she is to You.
Tell her, lest she forget, who she is to You,
She belongs to YOU.
She's the one YOU love.....and that will be ENOUGH.

And we zealously wait for the day she will belong to us.

Another Step

Fingerprinting at the Memphis USCIS immigration offices went great today!  Another step foward!

Thanks to all who have committed to be WARRIORS for Adoption!  The MS Warriror Dash is this Saturday. My sister and her husband, Christen and Chris Layton, and my cousins, Kelly and Chad Scott, will be running!  You can still sponsor them if you'd like by going to :
www.adopttogether.org/watkinsadopt

It is so very encouraging to see God moving His people to follow His heart for adoption through our family......we are humbled by your sacrifices of prayer, encouragement, and giving. 

Love from the Watkins

Be a WARRIOR for Adoption!

 OK Friends and Family!!  We need you!!
  WE are raising funds for our adoption by participating in an event called the WARRIOR DASH, an extreme event/race!

 We could use your help in one of four ways:

#1-Be a PRAYER Warrior - "Religion that our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after ORPHANS and widows in their distress..." (James 1:27)  Would you please pray for us as we grow to seek and "look after" the precious orphan God has for our family?

#2-Be a VOLUNTEER Warrior - On Sat., April 21, in Jackson, MS, we have the opportunity to raise $2,000 by working the Warrior Dash race from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine!   We need 25 people to volunteer in order to earn the money!  If you and a friend/s could help in this way, email Marcee asap!

#3-Be a RACE Warrior - You can sign up to DO the race (www.warriordash.com) and then ask friends and family to sponsor you through our tax-free giving site.  Race dates are April 21 in Jackson, MS, and May 12 in Amity, AR.  My sister and her husband, Christen and Chris Layton, will be doing the MS race, while Todd and I will be doing the AR race.  If you are intersted in racing, contact Marcee for more info. We have put together a letter you can mail/email to friends/family asking for sponsorship to make it easier.  Take this opportunity to ask a friend/spouse to do the race and get sponsors with you!!  It will be an extreme relationship builder!

#4-Be a SPONSOR Warrior - If extreme events are not for you, and you're unable to help work the MS race, you could sponsor someone else to run the race at $25, $50, $100, $500, or more.  You can do this by going to http://adopttogether.org/watkinsadopt/
and donating online tax free, or mailing a check to the address listed on this link.  In the "comments" section, simply type, "Sponsor Warrior".  (This is a non-profit organization.)  ALL sponsorship money will go to Todd and Marcee Watkins for the sole purpose of the Russian adoption ($53,000 total cost).

                         Thank you in advance for considering how you can be a
                                             WARRIOR for Adoption!!!
                     Please contact us if you have any questions at 501-514-4558!

"Through Jesus Christ and God the Father"

I started reading in Galatians this week.  Chapter 1 verse 1 says, "Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead)..."  I felt God say to me that I could put my daughter's name there...that she will not be "sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father" who, by the way, in case you're (I'm) doubting at all, raised Jesus Christ from the DEAD!  How amazing to know that Jesus Christ and God the Father are sending us an orphaned little girl.  Oh the love we feel for her already....indescribable.

We mailed in our international agency contract and fee this week!  It has arrived and is being worked on right now!  We have been assigned an agent (if you will) who is working on our dossier, which, as best we can understand, is all the Russian documents we will need for international adoption.  This process will take 3-4 months, but ours should go quicker because we already have a completed home study.  We have a meeting on Friday with our local adoption agency to go over Russian documents. 

We would love for you to pray with us and for us in these specific ways:
1-That our daughter is being loved on, touched, and held by God's special "angel".
2-That the referral for our daughter will be sent to us "through Jesus Christ and God the Father".
3-That our dossier will be completed and sent to Russia quickly.
4-That the necessary funds will be available at the right times.

To GOD be the Glory!