The one about Christmas 2014

First of all, I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!!

Truth is, this year Christmas looks nothing like I thought it would.

We still have empty suitcases & children halfway around the world.  Not what I thought this Christmas would look like at all. There have been, & will be, more tears as we wait to hold them in our arms.

But....

before you think I'm depressed & throwing a massive pity party, I want recount how the Lord has been present this Christmas season:

Christmas is my absolute, favorite time of year.  Not because of the commercialization of it all, but because I am constantly humbled by the magnitude of how much God loves us.  As a parent, I cannot fathom sending my child to die for someone else (especially someone with an ugly, hurting heart).  This is truly beyond my human comprehension & I am forever grateful He sent His son to show us just how much He loves us!

I'M GOING TO PREFACE THE REST OF THIS POST WITH THIS: I AM NOT, IN ANY CAPACITY BRAGGING ABOUT WHAT I HAVE ACHIEVED OR WHAT OUR COMMUNITY HAS DONE, BUT I AM BRAGGING ON BEHALF OF HOW THE LORD HAS SHOWN UP WHEN PEOPLE AROUND US HAVE REJECTED APATHY & IGNORANCE & STEPPED IN TO SERVE & GIVE--ALL BECAUSE HE GAVE FIRST!!

I cherish watching those around us give so abundantly & freely.  In our neighborhood, people took an entire angel tree & provided Christmas gifts for those less fortunate.  A family has also been led to love on children & families spending Christmas in the hospital & have been gathering presents to deliver today.  Good stuff.

If you know us at all, you know our lives have been forever changed & our hearts bent & broken for families & children in foster care & those built through adoption.  For the past several years, our community has been praying about our place in our community.  Several months ago, we were invited to our local DSS to meet with administration in order to hear what the needs are in our community.  We have such a wonderful partnership that is growing & evolving into something incredible & unique.  Last week, we were privileged to host a holiday meal for the child welfare department & I cannot even verbalize what an honor it was to play a small part in loving on the people on the front lines of the battle for families & children!

Things I learned from this event:

1) EVERY gesture of kindness touches someone's heart.
2) EVERYONE needs kindness.  EVERYONE.
3) Our community knows how to serve & does it with GRACE & SELFLESSNESS abounding.
4) The BEST LEADERS put action to their words.
5) Sometimes, being in the right place at the right time means the Lord CAN USE YOU in MIGHTY ways.
5) CHRISTMAS MIRACLES happen people.  For realz.
6) The BEST way to fight off depression is to find someone that needs more than you & GIVE BIG.
7) The Lord NEVER expects you to do it all alone or meet EVERY NEED by yourself: oftentimes, He asks us to speak up, speak out, & challenge those around us to #dosomething
8) GIVING feels GOOD & that's ok. He wants us to experience true JOY & sometimes the best way to do that is to GIVE because HE GAVE.
9) The NEED is GREAT; people are hurting & LOVE WINS EVERY TIME.
10) It is ALWAYS a good idea to recount the LORD'S BLESSINGS.  ALWAYS.

When we volunteered to serve a meal to DSS, we had no idea how much it would mean to the workers of the child welfare department.  I mean, how many of us serve a special meal to our own families around the holidays??  Didn't seem like that big of a deal to us, but the 15+ emails of gratitude we received showed us otherwise:

 "I was truly moved and I know our staff was so appreciative. They are the true heroes in the work we do and I cannot thank you enough for recognizing the job they do and the stress it brings." ~Ben Rose, Director

"I have never been a part of something so thoughtful for Child Welfare staff. That was truly amazing and heart felt!" ~Derek Heath, Investigations

"When I walked into the room for our division meeting I was so shocked to see the decorations and the beautiful ornament left for each worker. The idea was brilliant and very meaningful with the heart inside the state of North Carolina. The next thing I looked at were the center pieces and tree and thought, “Wow, this is for us?” We were told you guys were feeding us but nobody in a million years thought we would get the red carpet rolled out for us! Next we received an email stating what time the food would be ready and for us to go to the auditorium and SIT down as we were being served. I was like, really? This is for us? I supervise intake and the people you work with made sure my staff received their food even though we could not come down and sit and eat. The food was great but the thought was even greater!" ~Justice Johnson, Intake Supervisor

"Crystal shared the story of your pastor’s adoption story and it truly warmed our hearts to no end! In a business that easily makes one cynical it is so refreshing to know that truly kind and caring people not only exist in the world but in this community." ~Sharon Reese, Foster Care Supervisor

"I have worked here for over 14 years and I feel I speak for all of us when I say how wonderful and special it was to be recognized..." ~Tiffany Loiko, Adoption Social Worker

"The joy that was instilled in each of us has remained and continues to be a blessing. While I am thankful and humbled to have been a recipient of such kindness, I am even more grateful to have witnessed the love displayed to our staff, who endure so much and do not customarily receive this type of adoration. Thank you all for making so many happy." ~Cathy Rucker, Staff Development & Community Liasion
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And the GIVING our community has done this Christmas: OH THE GIVING!!  Our community has provided Christmas for just under 100 KIDS & FAMILIES that did not have the means or resources to provide for themselves!!! YES!!  People selflessly gave money, wishlist items, & most importantly are now praying over our local families in the most need. REJECTING APATHY & IGNORANCE to show someone else Christ's love?!?  Yes please!!

Several more families are committing to becoming licensed foster parents &/or pursing adoption.  Individuals are signing up to be Guardian ad Litems--child advocates for children seeking permanency.

And then there's this "Christmas Miracle"~

'This will be a Christmas like no other in the Isenhour household this year. As you know, Crystal and I began our adoption journey in January. But the process is extremely slow. Earlier in the month, Sierra asked Santa for a little sister for Christmas. Then, last Tuesday morning, I prayed that this would be our last Christmas without our new child, or, if God chooses, He would make this our first Christmas with our new child. Later that day, Crystal volunteered at a luncheon for DSS hosted by our church. At that luncheon, she was introduced to a social worker. Long story short, DSS delivered a 6 year-old girl to our home on Saturday! She is home with us! Merry Christmas!!"

Y'all.  I. CANNOT. EVEN. EXPRESS. THE. JOY.

People are making a difference in our community & it HUMBLES me BEYOND MEASURE to be in a position to see people stepping out in faith, into the messiness of life, & give of themselves to love another!!  What amazing ways to see the Lord at work!

This is also a very special season because yesterday, JP & I celebrated 8 years of marriage.  8 years!!  Yeah!!  People told us when we got married--& tried to explain to us--that we would love each other more & more with every year that passes, & they were right!  I really & truly loved him as much as I possibly could have the day we said "I do," but Christ-centered, unconditional love grows & evolves & is so much stronger than it was 8 years ago.

8 years looks pretty good on us if I do say so myself, ha! I am truly blessed!

As an anniversary gift, the CCCWA granted us a wonderful gift: we received email notification that our next piece of paper is on its way!  So, we are (un)officially one step closer to bringing home our boys, yay!!  Estimated travel is 8-10 weeks from now, we will keep you posted!  Our prayer has been that even though we wish they were with us, that our China boys have a very special last Christmas in China.

So....

even though this Christmas looks different than we thought it would, it has already been GREAT.  The Lord is sovereign & His love knows no bounds.  He gave us the ULTIMATE example of how to love selflessly, unconditionally, & with all that we have.  We are truly humbled & blessed to know this kind of love!

"And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 

Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, 

goodwill toward men!”

~Luke 2: 1-14 NKJV~

The one a month in the making (Chosen Race, part 2)

Apparently I forgot to publish this publicly!  I do apologize!!

It's a dreary, cold Sunday morning & I'm currently typing as my husband & son are upstairs snuggled comfortably & safely in their beds.  For this, my heart is happy.

It's been just over a month since our family & friends joined us for the inaugural Chosen Charlotte 10 Mile Race.  In  this post, I detailed the events of the days before the race & how God showed up & showed off in His perfect timing to bring our second son into our family. Good stuff y'all. 

So race day.  Oh man, race day.  Prior to this race, I would not call myself  a "real" runner.  I had dappled in the sport several times, even buying an expensive pair of shoes several summers ago (that in all fairness, did change my running world for the better).  Then I experienced an injury & carried a lot of fear when it came to running.  

Then the opportunity to take part in the Chosen Race came around & I knew I'd have to face my fears, strap on a new pair of shoes, & start training. Boy am I glad I did!

Participating in Chosen felt a bit like a wedding to me: there were lots of questions & things to organize ahead of time; things that didn't exactly quite right, & unexpected, unplanned wonderful things.  Then the day got here & there were so many of the people we love in one space celebrating what God is doing in & through our family.  Then exhaustion & processing through it all :)  Not all that different from a wedding....ha!

So the night before the race, family & out-of-town friends flooded in for the celebration.  People came in to volunteer, walk, & run the race with us.  And we lied to many of them...eeek!  We are still sorry about lying, but we are not sorry about why ;-)

Many times on Friday night, we were asked if we had heard anything about the little 5-yr old guy we hoped would become our son.  As you know from my previous post, we found out just that morning that we would have the opportunity to become his family.  But we wanted to tell our family in person first.  

Then Friday night (kinda) fell apart & we missed that opportunity. 

Jonathan & I stayed up late, processing through the events of the day, making a poster for our teammates to sign, & cherishing the news that we are getting 2 sons!

The next morning was only slightly chaotic ;-)

Everyone seemed to make it to the race in plenty of time; there were only 2 registration packets we couldn't locate (which we eventually did); & the atmosphere was electric & exciting as many families gathered with their loved ones to volunteer, run, & walk for someone besides themselves. 

We gathered EqualsZero--Team Patterson around to pray & take pictures prior to the race starting, & it was at this moment that Jonathan, Jayson, & I were able to share publicly that we are getting 2 boys.

It was, by far, one of the BEST moments of the day & this journey for us!!

People signed our poster, we snapped a few team pictures & prayed together before we took off

Our family

Doctors Bobby Levy & Robert Poetta

(Most of) EqualsZero--Team Patterson

getting ready to start

teammates signing the poster

Cousin Erica signing the psoter

JP pinning on his bib

The BEST Papa in the world!! 

Cousins Erica & Emily showing their support--& being photobomed by Dr. Stephen Renfrow :)

    

Our fabulous residency friends, Lauren Thomas, Lauren Paul, & Erica Pate (& little baby Pate)
These lovely ladies manned water station 4 & were a HUGE encouragement!!

pre-race strategizing with our resident marathon friend, Gray Riley

We had a balloon release & a moment of silence in honor of the 10 members of the Hendrick family & crew that died 10 years ago. 

Some of the beautiful women of our family that came out to walk: Cousins Erica & Emily, the PROUDEST Gammie around, & our loving Aunt Donna

My motivation

The best accountability partner & friend a girl could ask for, Alexis Morris

And with that, we were off!  

There are countless stories of the how & why people decided to jump feet first into this crazy journey with us, but I want to share 2 of them with the world:  I love my parents.  100%.   Completely & wholeheartedly for the very imperfect, very wonderful, God-fearing people they are.  My Mama & Daddy did a killer job raising us in a very broken, hurting world & by far the best thing they did for us was to show us God's love.  Mess up? There's His grace.  Get angry? There's His forgiveness.  Let Satan win a battle?  There's stubbornness that knows he does not get to win the war.  Show up.  Be present.  Love with everything you have, even when it hurts or requires sacrifices.  Make allowances for each other's faults but by golly, challenge each other to press into God that much harder next time.  Laugh often.  Notice others.  Be loyal.  Be grateful.  Serve well.  Give 100% in everything you do.  Forgive.  Love. 

All of that being said, I honestly wasn't sure if or what my parent's roles might become for this race.  Knowing they support our adoption journey, I expected them to be present, but I honestly didn't expect this: 

or this....

When I think of my Dad, I think of a man that is loyal.  He shares his opinions boldly & unashamedly.  He does not quit.  He is a man of great conviction & those close to him know exactly where his heart & his loyalties lie.  I love these things about him.  And on race day, I got to see all these qualities reflected in my Mama.  Like me, she has never done anything like this before, but she decided months ago she was going to walk the 10 miles & "not finish last."  Months of training & a die-hard commitment paid off: she never quit & she did not finish last!!  

My Mama is a gifted server & grace-giver.  I'm convinced that on a good day, she could out-give Mother Theresa.  She has a quite strength about her that is not to be underestimated. She always put her family's needs before her own.  She serves well.  She has a natural gift for meeting the needs of others.  On race day, I got to see these qualities reflected in my Daddy. Less than 6 months out from knee repair surgery, he was there waiting at the finish line on bended knee, the official "tag cutter" of Chosen 2014.  

None of the qualities listed above are exclusive to either of my parents, but what touched me the most is to experience what God desires marriages to be: an exchange of the best qualities in each other that demonstrate Christ's love to those around.  Such an unexpected blessing from this day. 

I cannot even verbalize how humbled & blessed our family is knowing how loved & supported we are!!!!  

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you~

Jonathan, DeAnna, Jayson, & our China boys