Meet Marek Joel Scott (Finally!!!)

After nearly two years of seemingly endless stacks of paperwork and the sacrifice of so many precious people, our dream day has finally arrived! This morning, we opened our inbox to this precious angel whom God has allowed to be a part of our life forevermore. He was born on December 28, 2009 and is currently weighing in at a whopping 12 lbs!

We will write more a little later but here are a few fun facts that we learned about our angel today through the Gladney Ethiopian caregiver:

* He is a cute, but little guy!

* He loves to start up "conversations" and will 'talk' your ear off!

* He is holding his head steady when upright

* He is grasping a rattle

* He is eating and sleeping well

* He dislikes tummy time!

Oh, we could go on and on but bottom line is...HE'S PERFECT! Thank you for celebrating with us. We are editing more pics and will post them soon.

Without Measure

There once was a man named Eddy. Kind, gentle, selfless, loving, and oh so thoughtful was he. Eddy lived in a village known as Morganton where he helped shepherd a flock, along with some other very wise shepherds known as David, Philip, and Brian. This flock wasn’t just any old flock, but one filled with hundreds of sheep filled with tender, teachable hearts that followed THE Shepherd wherever they heard his voice speak, whether through wind, fire, thunder, or a whisper. It happened one day that the Shepherd spoke to Eddy and told him of a great need three of his small sheep possessed. Obediently, with confidence only a true Shepherd can offer, Eddy spoke to the other shepherds and determined a way to meet the need. The way would not be easy, but would require many days of work from the shepherds and the other sheep in the flock. It would require sacrifice and selflessness on the part of everyone. It would require long nights, much sweat, dirty jobs, sore legs, and tired eyes. However, the reward was promised to be literally out of this world, in another kingdom, far from the pasture in which the flock grazed. So, with much determination the flock set out to meet the need and that they did!!! The three little sheep that received the help were astounded, amazed, and quite shocked!! They did not have the capability of thanking the flock to the degree they desired, but just ran with intensity to THE Shepherd and begged Him to bless the flock without measure for the sacrifice wrought to meet their need! THE Shepherd knew about sacrifice all too well and was overjoyed to bless the flock for sharing in the spirit of His life, His ways, & His plan!!

This little story is in no way fiction, but the real story of Burkemont Baptist Church reaching out to our family to meet the financial need linked to the adoption of Marek Joel Scott. The church hosted a BBQ fundraiser on April 17, 2010 during which countless people prepared, set-up, cooked, served, cleaned, and everything in between! So many precious church family members, thoughtful community residents, and others came out to eat and give above and beyond the cost of the BBQ!! AMAZING!!! Over $4400.00 was raised and to this day, the number is still rising! Thank you BBC for being our God-gift in COUNTLESS ways!!!!! We are so thankful God has given Marek a HUGE, God-centered family here in Morganton!

Why we are thankful for Steven Curtis Chapman...

For those of you who have no clue who this family is, please let us introduce you to Steven Curtis Chapman (SCC) and his family. SCC is the gentleman standing on the far right. SCC is an extremely successful Christian artist who has a HUGE heart for orphans. As you can see, the Chapman family have adopted 3 beautiful little girls from China.

Recognizing that adoption is a perfect picture of what God has done for each of us in making us His children through Christ, the Chapman family created an organization called ShowHOPE. The following quote was taken from their website:

"ShowHOPE was established to care for orphans by engaging the church and helping Christian families reduce the financial barriers to adoption. Psalm 68:5-6 tells us that as the Father to the fatherless, God delights in setting the lonely in families. It has been our experience that the scriptural mandate of caring for orphans, such as the one found in James 1:27, is really a wonderful invitation to experience God in a profound way by being a part of His sovereign plan for His precious children. Working from these foundational truths, ShowHOPE exists to enable children living without the love and hope of an earthly family to be adopted into 'covenant homes.' These families can provide not only the love and support needed for this life, but also provide a child with the knowledge of God's plan for his or her eternal life with a forever family called The Body of Christ."

So, why do I give you all of this information? ShowHOPE is one of the organizations we have applied for an adoption assistance grant to help offset some of the expense associated with bringing Marek home. Today, April received a phone call from ShowHOPE informing us that we were awarded a grant in the amount of $2000 to go towards any remaining adoption expenses.

As I sit here typing this note to you, I am standing speechless. How can we say 'thank you' enough to all of you who faithfully lay us and Marek before the throne of Christ? How can we say 'thank you' enough to a man we will probably never meet who has such a heart for orphans? How can we say 'thank you' enough to our Father, who continually leaves our mouths wide open in complete awe of His greatness? The answer...we simply can't. Our hearts are overflowing with thankfulness...a thankfulness that we will never be able to express. However, please know that you are loved more than you will ever know and as much as possible, we humbly say 'Thank you.'

Love you so...