The Junkin's

Happy Valentine's Day......

2012-02-14T08:29:00.000-06:00

........missing my little Valentine so much today! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE continue to pray for April (2012 that is :))

Paxton James Junkin

2012-02-08T09:28:00.001-06:00

We have video from last night's event, but the video camera cords seem to be misplaced. So in blog form, here is how Rowen announced to both families the sex of his baby brother or baby sister......

Each family member opened one of these.......anticipating the revealing......

But to their disappointment, it was this picture......

We had everyone predict sex, weight, and due date.....then, the nieces and nephews opened one more present.

To which revealed that.....

Our goal was/is to make Rowen apart as much as we possibly can being so far away. In years to come, we want him to know that he had a part in every aspect of this journey.

Still on our knees praying for his arrival in April. Please continue to join us in praying that he is home and present to welcome his baby brother into the world!

Again, I humbly thank you for your prayers, encouragement, messages, and excitement that you all consistently send us through this journey. Yall have been a form of God's faithfulness in our lives and we honestly could not do it without you! We pray so hard that our journey is nothing less than a testimony of God's faithfulness and goodness.

He is the same God to all!

COMING SOON.....

2012-02-05T23:16:00.004-06:00

Pink or Blue.

We're Back...

2012-01-30T07:37:00.000-06:00

Due to a lack of knowledge of how to successfully post blogs from an Ipad and due to poor internet connection in Haiti, I am way behind. I wanted so badly to post updates for family and friends about my time with Rowen, but I couldn't seem to successfully accomplish the task. And not to mention, Rowen is now 16 months and I couldn't turn my back for one second without the potential face plant down a flight of stairs. There are stairs EVERYWHERE at the guest house, which does not make for a kid friendly environment. And just like every 16 month old, that's where Rowen wanted to spend most of his time.

So to answer many questions, THAT is what we did a large majority of our time.

We did meet with our new social worker who is going to be able to help us out tremendously with our waiver and hopefully speed things along. He was introduced to us through Pastor Francky and has completed several Haitian adoptions in a timely manner. Although it seems impossible, our prayer is still April. But to GOD be the glory regardless of the timing He sees best for Rowen to be home. God keeps reminding me that HE is more interested and desires the best for Rowen more than I do. Therefore, if it is best for him to spend another year or two or three in Haiti, thats where he'll be. If it is best for him to come to the States tomorrow, thats where he'll be. Quite hard for a parent to grasp that truth......but I can honestly say that everyday gets better with Matthew 7:11 rehearsed in my brain.

Since our last visit in November, Rowen has blossomed. I am a biased mother, but when you only get to spend 2 weeks every other month with your child, the smallest things amaze you. He is saying several words on his own.....car, grass, "da" for daddy, cheeeeeese, sit, ball, and will try to repeat just about anything I say and copies just about everything I do. He understands and responds to English better than Creole. He LOVES to dance, wave 'hey' and 'bye', blow kisses, throw any ball he can get his hands on, and by far his favorite.....he loves to eats more than any grown man I've ever seen! He eats so much, I am already praying against the struggle of gluttony. And I do not say that to be funny! Everyone who has sat with us at dinner is beyond amazed at his eating habits. THANK GOD, seriously, that he does not like or eat anything with sugar. He strictly prefers water and milk in his sippy cup, which I am thankful for. A nurse informed me that he would catch up with himself and eventually slow down......so I'm trying not to worry too much nor become his food nazi.

I'm trying not to be that mom that raves about her child, but I share these things for family who have not have had the privilege of spending time with him and for those who constantly ask about him. He is the most precious child I have ever laid eyes, and he LOVES his momma. He is fully aware (as much as a 16 month old can be) of the baby in my belly........and please excuse the chicken pop look I'm sporting on my face. I slept too close to an open window, and some gnats had a hey-day with my face, neck, and arm. That's Haiti for ya!

He loved pulling up my shirt, pointing and patting my belly, and "loving on the baby." If I was standing where he couldn't reach, he'd insist that I put him in a chair or on the bed so he could reach my belly to love on it.

Next Monday, Baby J will officially have a name and Rowen will officially have a little brother or little sister. We are all so excited!

Due to an early morning wake-up call from our rooster friend that I would have loved to have gotten my hands on, little man was up and ready to go at 6:30AM EVERY morning. He normally would sleep until about 8:30 and cuddle with me until I was ready to go.......but not this trip!

He would gather his things, make his way to the door, and wave "bye" which forced this NON morning person to get out of bed.

Other than little sleep, I enjoyed every second with my little boy and we can NOT wait to get him home.

For our prayer warriors.....please continue to pray April. Our new social worker is taking a different approach on our process, so please pray for favor and efficiency. We believe it is your prayers that led us to this new guy that is now helping us. The lady that helped start our process in Haiti will be giving birth to her child in a few short weeks which will put her out of commission for a while. Therefore, he came in PERFECT timing.......another way God reminded us that HE is at work and HE is in control!

"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21

Braids and All.....

2012-01-10T19:05:00.005-06:00

I could eat him up!!!!!

I got these pictures today from Haiti, and nothing could have made me happier. We got word that he has been so so sick, so seeing this smile has made my day.

Romans 8:18

2012-01-09T12:03:00.007-06:00

The Lord spoke this verse loud and clear to me this morning, and since I am aware of so many women that are either believing God for a child to come home from another country very soon or believing God for conception; I have to share........

"For I consider that the SUFFERINGS of this present time are not worth comparing with the GLORY that is to be revealed to us." Romans 8:18

As believers, our suffering is NEVER in vain. God's excellent internal work with in us produces glorious external ramifications.

The glory that is coming from your suffering far outweighs the pain and frustration you may be experiencing right now!

Happy New Year

2012-01-08T23:06:00.006-06:00

I still stand amazed at the fact that Payton and I started off 2011 with a wedding and ended the year welcoming two babies into our lives. We're a testimony of how fast God can change your life, because our's is changing FAST! We wouldn't have it any other way, and we're beyond ready (so we think) for our precious blessings to join us in just a few short months.

We spent most of New Year's Eve weekend in Nashville with some precious high school/college friends of mine. I spent most of the trip exhausted due to Baby J, but since the next few months are some of the last months that Payton and I will be able to travel physically and mentally child free, we're taking full advantage of it.

I want to continue to thank so many of you for all your constant prayers, support, and encouragement. We really could not make it day to day without you. And we mean that!!! As I've said before, adoption is the hardest and most frustrating thing Payton and I have ever been through. And if you see or talk to us on a daily basis, its evident on how much its wearing on us. BUT all the prayers, encouragement, and support we continue to receive truly does help push us from day to day.

I leave Saturday to spend ten days with my little man! We're hoping to get some of the process pushed along while I am there, so please be in prayer for that. Other than that, get ready for picture overload of the baby boy!

Cloud Nine

2012-01-02T13:08:00.013-06:00

I wish I could keep up with the amount of times we heard these similar comments concerning our babies that are on their way.......

..."I bet yall are on cloud nine"

..."You're on cloud nine aren't you?"

..."How does it feel to be on cloud nine?"

As we completely understand why people would think this to be the way that we feel right now, our response is quite contrary to the reaction I'm sure people expect from us. However, we smile and respond with, "we're not actually, but we will be when our son is home from Haiti."

There is nothing about our child being in another country and not knowing exactly when he'll be in our arms forever that give us a tingling, butterfly sense of feeling. We are thrilled and humbled beyond words to be pregnant with our second child, but we know this child will be in our presence sometime around July 7th. And once he or she arrives, we wont be traveling to a third world country to visit him/her. Rowen, on the other hand, is playing, walking, laughing, eating, sleeping, being held, learning, and so much more without his mommy and daddy who only get to see him once every month or two. There is nothing in this world that we long for more than to have him home, therefore we wish we could explain our emotions as those of being on "cloud nine", but right now.......we can't.

In the midst, we have learned and grown so much. And God is constantly reminding me of the rewards and fruit that come to those who wait (Psalms 84:11).

I have been reminded of the season that I waited for my husband. My desire to be married and have children evolved at the age of 4. But God had me wait a lot longer than I EVER had planned. I wanted to get married right out college (really right out of high school if I could have....ha), but God had me wait. I wanted to get married during the five years that I remained single, yet ALL of my friends were meeting their significant others and planning their weddings......but God had me wait. I won't be a cheese, but if I would have foreseen what God was storing up for my life, I would have waited much more contently and patiently. And that is what I'm attempting to cling to. I look at all the fruit that came from that particular waiting season, and I would not have written my story any differently.

If I would not have waited for my amazing husband, I would not be waiting for my baby boy that we love more than this life nor would I be carrying the precious baby in my womb. God's timing is perfect! In eight months, my desires have come to be.....happily and healthily married to an amazing man with two precious children on the way.

I encourage you, when God makes you wait......WAIT! If I wouldn't have, I would have completely missed the cloud that is closely awaiting for us to jump on.

In adoption news: we're still waiting on the waiver. It is partially complete....yay! And will hopefully be sent to the president of Haiti in the next couple of weeks. Once we receive the signed waiver, we will be able progress with lots of paperwork that has been sitting still. Please continue to join us in prayer that this will happen quickly and efficiently.

As most of you know, we need the waiver in order to bypass the Haitian law that says you have to be 30 years old and married 5 years in order to adopt. However, Haiti does honor common law marriages, which means they would recognize the years a couple has dated/lived together. We have been together two and half. We have been "encouraged" to prove/lie that we have lived together for five years, which would make the process so much easier, but we have refused. Some think we were crazy for not telling a little white lie that would have saved us from months of waiting on this waiver, but we believe that God is stronger and will/can expedite this process much better than we can or could have with our lies. He honors integrity....not perfection, because we're far from that.

We're not sharing his because we want a pat on the back for "doing right", we're sharing this because we desire for this process to bring Him and only Him glory. And we are praying that because of our desire to let Him be the only one moving the mountains in this story, that big brother will be home before the birth of his baby brother or sister. As so many of you are, please join us as we continue to circle around this story and pray that Rowen will be home in April. It is something only God can do, so for those prayer warriors who have been so faithful in walking beside us through this, that is our prayer.

Just like Psalms 84:11 says, the Lord bestows favor and honor and no good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly. We cling to this. We pray and believe that He will bestow His honor and favor on our decision to painfully wait. And that those following this story will be encouraged to wait integriously for whatever He is calling you to wait on.

He doesn't need our maneuvering or manipulation to accomplish His plan, He just needs our faithful obedience and integrity!

Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow! Happy 2012!

Birthday and Christmas 2011......

2011-12-27T20:39:00.002-06:00

Back tracking.......between the constant going of my birthday, Christmas, Baby J fatigue, and the "Rowen Mood" (the depressing mood Payton and I sometimes struggle to snap out of because of our baby boy being stuck in Haiti), blogging and really anything else has taken the back seat.

BUT last Wednesday, we celebrated my birthday and my precious husband could not have made it anymore special. I was woken up with breakfast in bed........

followed by a scheduled massage, haircut, and time to pack for our mini one night get away.....

We headed to Florence for the night to stay at their Marriot. I kept calling it and telling people it was Ross Bridge, because it was super similar.......but to my correction, it was the Marriot at Muscle Shoals. Sorry to those I misled. However, we enjoyed a great dinner at a recommended Italian restaurant and ate dessert at the rotating 360 Restaurant outside of the hotel.

Little man also turned 15 months........

Every day I miss him more and more. And the holidays were harder than I ever imagined without him here. The picture below was sent to us on Christmas Day. I am so thankful we were able to see his precious face, even if his head is full of braids. The fro isn't the trend in Haiti, so the Haitian women braid that hair as fast as they can get their hands on it. However, on January 14 the fro will be back! Because this momma gets to spend another ten days with her baby! SO excited to get my hands back on that baby boy.

Back to the holidays.....after spending the day in Florence on Thursday, we headed to Birmingham for a day of my annual Christmas parties on Friday.......

This was our 13th year to continue the tradition of our high school girls get together. We started this tradition when we were in the eighth grade and have managed to stay connected with the desire to spend this time together every Christmas. Some of our girls were missing due to work, babies, and just life. But to cover their absence.....heres the whole crew from Christmas 2010......

Later that night we had our 11th annual "Christmas with Christy"........

We consider Christy our mentor. She walked into the four of our lives when we were Sophomores in high school and has been a constant role model and prayer warrior over the past 11 years. I praise God for these unique and special relationships.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day were spent with the Junkins......

And Christmas Day on the 26th was spent with the Millingtons......

My little brother (who NEVER shops) went out and bought Rowen a car seat........he thought of the idea and picked it out all himself. If you know Miah at all, you know this is quite, actually, VERY impressive. We're one down and one more to go :). Its already strapped in the car and ready for our little man!

It was so hard not being with my family on Christmas Day, but with the addition of two kids next year; we decided to go ahead and start the tradition of staying home all of Christmas Day. We're on the road so much on a consistent basis, that spending time on the road Christmas Day did not excite us the least bit this year. It did, however, allow Payton to get in some good practice at playing Santa.......

This time next year will look ~~slightly~~ different, and we're beyond READY! Hope everyone had a blessed and memorable Christmas.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T07:50:00.000-06:00

Weekend....

2011-12-19T08:20:00.000-06:00

We absolutely LOVE all of our Christmas cards that have come to us in the mail. My daily highlight is now checking the mailbox......so thank you to everyone to has added more excitement to my daily life :).

And thanks to an absolute useless Friday night, we (or I) finally decided to decorate the trees. Nothing like nine days before Christmas. But thankful that I could muster up some energy and get it done.

My sweet and precious mom came to visit today for an early birthday celebration. Since my birthday is so close to Christmas (its Wednesday), she has always gone above and beyond making sure Christmas does not overlook my birthday. Now 27 years old, and she hasn't changed a thing. She is sweetest, thoughtful, and most selfless person I know, and I am beyond grateful for her!

Our little man is sick AGAIN :(.

The Children's Home is passing around the stomach bug and Rowen's been caught. We were able to Skype with him last week (which definitely made things worse for both of us) and he was pitiful. Nothing worse than having to stare at your sick baby on a computer screen! Please continue to pray for Rowen (of course), but for Payton and I. Every day gets harder and harder. We're emotional exhausted.

Thought Provoking...

2011-12-15T12:46:00.012-06:00

This past Wednesday night, the sermon title for the youth was "ChristmUS". Reminding us that Christmas is really not about US at all.

As a part of the message, I shared a statistic that I had discovered that alluded to our making Christmas, ChristmUS. From that statistic, I went on to do some figuring. Below are some interesting thoughts....

The statistic: On "Black Friday" in 2010, 10.6 BILLION dollars were spent. 1 DAY, billions of dollars spent on stuff!

My figurings...

There are approximately 350,000 orphans in the country of Haiti.

If you divide 350,000 into 10.6 billion, you get $30,285. That amount is the amount each orphan would have received if that money would have been given to them on that one day in 2010, instead of on “stuff” for ChristmUS!

That amount of money would have been enough to have each orphan adopted into a family, anywhere in the world, plus probably have a little spending money left over!

More figuring...

1 in 5 children in Haiti die before age 5 from preventable causes.

For the Haitian people that survive, a large majority live on less than $1 a day.

Also, for the Haitian people that survive those first critical years, the average lifespan is then 60 years.

Take the $30,285 figure given, divide by 21,900 days, which equals 60 years....

You get $1.40 per day!

So,we Americans had two opportunities on that day in 2010. If we would have chosen to give the same amount of money to the orphans of Haiti that we spent on ourselves or our family/friends, which are an extension of ourselves, 1 of 2 things could have happened....

1. There would no longer be an orphan crisis in the country of Haiti.

2. Each orphan would have at least been able to survive and live for 60 years.

On a personal note, this week has been tough. We miss our boy. It is the holidays and our family is incomplete. Please remember us in your prayers.

Clinging to a few certain scriptures. I pray they speak to you as they have us. Love you all!

"Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:12

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14

"A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families,he leads out the prisoners with singing;but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land." Psalms 68:5-6

P.S. I am aware that my figurings are very much hypothetical. My desire for sharing them is simply to raise all of our awareness of how blessed we are and to challenge us to maybe view some things a little different.

The Millington Traditions

2011-12-12T22:19:00.011-06:00

Like most families, making and decorating sugar cookies is a BIG family tradition for the Millingtons. So big that Mom reminds us every year that her grandmother started this tradition :), therefore the occasion must conitnue. So....for as long as I can remember, every year we get together with aunts, uncles, and cousins to make sugar cookies from a recipe that my great grandmother passed down. However, unlike the previous years I slept through a large portion of the festivities due to the butter bean in my belly.

He or she is killing me! I cant even get my trees decorated....if you know me well at all, you know thats a pretty big deal and waaaaay out of the norm. But so is this fatigue that the ten week old bean is causing me! Any energy I muster up is spent on adoption paperwork or catching up on the two weeks worth of laundry that I can't seem to put a dent in from Haiti! Payt makes me rest A LOT, so very little is getting done around here. But the tree are up with lots of lights, and that is strictly because I put them up November 1st! But I'm not puking, my Christmas shopping is done, and thank goodness for wanting to jump the gun the beginning of November, because the rest of the house is decorated and looking pretty good so I won't/can't complain.

Recognize ~~Little~~ Miss Priss in the pic below? Yes, that is Kaley and she is SO big now :(! She has now reached shoulder height and has the longest and skinniest legs I have ever seen! She has a "facebook account" and acts like she is 16 years old. Makes me SO sad.

Lastly, the family Christmas card picture......

Our family tends to get bigger and bigger which make the options for creativity harder and harder. I can't thank you all enough for all the sweet comments and messages. But once again, THANK YOU!!!

Missing that little guy more than I can stand!!!

Rowen's Announcement....

2011-12-07T08:53:00.010-06:00

I tried really hard to share this video with everyone so Rowen could share our exciting news the same way he shared with our family. But after a long day of getting around to all of our family members; I did not have the patience nor the energy to work with it. It would not cooperate. But here it is.......we popped it in as a simple video that "I made of our trip".........

I wish I had a video of everyone's priceless expressions. It definitely surprised and shocked everyone except my Mom and sister in law, Jess. I don't know how or why, but they were super suspicious and had everything "figured out" :). But for the most, every one was super shocked.

We took a pregnancy test two Wednesdays before I left. They were obviously positive, so we made a doctor's appointment for that following Monday.

After going to our appointment on that Monday, we were encouraged and given the okay for my to travel to Haiti. We obviously were slightly nervous, but my levels were so high and looked so good, we were not going to neglect an opportunity to spend time with our son. And I am so thankful we didn't. God (as always) was so faithful and gave me all the energy I needed to keep up with the little man......

Im slightly embarrassed to share this picture because we or really I look so rough. For some reason we waited until midnight to take a picture with the little butter bean.

But there he or she is, and we will find out the sex some time in February. I'll be ten weeks on Saturday, and we are due July 7th.

Thank you so much for your sweet messages and phone calls! We appreciate each of one of them more than words can say. And thank you so much for your consistent prayers that has helped grow our family from 2 to four in a matter of months! With that said, please continue to pray because we shall have 2 under two in just a few short months!

Rowen Has Some News.........

2011-12-05T23:32:00.003-06:00

Baby J #2 on the way........

Home

2011-12-03T22:01:00.005-06:00

My heart is so full of emotions, and I have so much to share. However, my body is still on Rowen/Haiti time and I am exhausted! We got in a midnight, got settled, and I was up and at'em at 8:00 AM. I am NOT a morning person so after a long day of travels this was quite unusual.

My precious husband picked me up from the airport, took me to Momma Gs where I devoured some dorito nachos and a chicken breast sandwich (I don't know why, but the entire last week I was in Haiti that's what I craved), and I came home to a squeaky clean house. My sweet and thoughtful husband had a house cleaner come clean before I came home. It was so nice and beyond appreciated, but strangely still desired for BOTH of us to be back in the 90 degree weather of Haiti zapping mosquitos with our boy.

I love being at my home and seeing family and friends, BUT I miss my baby boy so much!! And according to the women at the Children's Home, he is missing us too. Rowen was once the only child at the home that never cried or made a peep. He was the "best" baby they had ever seen. But since he was dropped back off on Friday, he has cried non stopped. He is still the best baby........he just wants his mommy and daddy!

Please continue to pray for the waiver....due to a big miscommunication, we did not get it Wednesday......welcome the life of adoption. However, it is now scheduled for completion next Thursday. We're continuing to trust in the Lord and His sovereignty. He orchestrated this adoption process from the beginning, and we KNOW He is not and will not leave us hanging. We believe and know that He is still at work and in that, we find peace and patience.

Truth...

2011-11-30T11:00:00.001-06:00

"The cross must be raised again at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am claiming that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan they had to write His title in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek ... At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble, because that is where He died and that is what he died for and that is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen should be about." - George McLeod

"But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Luke 5:30-32

Tiny Prints Offer

2011-11-29T10:03:00.001-06:00

We LOVE Christmas! And we love these cards. Click the card to view.

Click HERE to see more!

War Eagle and An Update

2011-11-28T07:50:00.003-06:00

Payton left for the States Saturday......which is the ONLY reason I got away with dressing Rowen in his Auburn gear.

It was a sad day in Haiti for this momma. The emotions surprisingly stayed intact until Rowen pointed to a picture of him and Payt on my phone and continued to say "da da", "da da", "da da".....then the tears came!

As I'm sure you can imagine, it is the WORST feeling in the world to have your family in two separate countries. While my heart longs to be with Payt, it longs to be with my son. It is very difficult to say the least. However, God has promised us the day that our family will be together forever and that is what we are clinging to.

Enough sap and pity, I am, however, thoroughly thankful for this time we have gotten to spend with Rowen as a family. I am also thankful to be able to experience so much more of his precious little personality at this age. He has learned so much this past week, and I so thankful that his mommy and daddy were able to teach him some of his "first".

I promise I am not going to be that mom that highlights every breath my child takes, but since our family, unfortunately, will not get to enjoy him at this precious age, this is more for them. So bare with me.

Like I said he can now say "da dad" (still working on mommy..... hes close :)). He has learned to blow kisses and to sign "more" in sign language when he wants more to eat. He has learned the word "no" very well and has learned to cut off the whining with a tap on his lower chin (not sure why that works, but it does for us). He is the cuddliest baby I have ever seen and he will cuddle with anyone who wants some love. He laughs (more like cackles) all the time. Rarely cries....unless he is sick. He loves to suck his two fingers. He waves "hey" and "bye". He loves to eat and will shovel ANYTHING that is put in front of him.....hence the importance of the sign language, it has helped!!! Loves to point at things and wants to know what everything is, loves to copy/mocks anything you do. There is so much more, but I'll stop.

We are very proud and beyond thankful for the couple that previously cared for him. They did such a good job, and their fruit is shown through his sweet, content, loving, and cuddling tempermant. He is everything we prayed for! We never thought we could love someone so much! And even if he wasn't close to being a perfect baby.....we'd love him just the same :)! But we thank God everyday for such a precious angel!

We signed our guardianship papers so we are his official guardians.....thank you for praying. Anticipate getting the waiver Wednesday. Please continue to pray for that!

Love yall.....and win or lose, WAR EAGLE!

Thanksgiving In Haiti

2011-11-24T18:51:00.013-06:00

Never did I or Payt imagine spending our first Thanksgiving as a married couple in Haiti with our one year little boy.......

It was different to say the least, but we would not have traded our time as a family for any parade, turkey dinner, yummy desserts, or other family traditions. We dearly missed our families and thoroughly look forward to having our baby home next year to celebrate!

Instead of watching the Macy's Day Parade, we watched Baby Noah and Boz via lap top......

We got to enjoy most of our day at The Caribbean Lodge Resort where Rowen had his first experience in a swimming pool......

The only time he has taken a full fledge bath is when we were here last October (Haitians usually just sponge bathe their children) so you can only imagine what he thought about a pool of water.....he slowly warmed up.

We may not have be able to enjoy turkey and dressing this year, but I scored with a big ole' pizza. If you know me well, you know I'd rather be eating pizza than just about anything......

So thankful to the point of tears for my precious family that God has placed together. Payt and I were reminiscing at dinner about our first Thanksgiving together......two years ago as a fresh dating couple and my first trip to Guin. God has done so much in the past two years and we are so thankful and so blessed!

God is good! And we thank you again for your prayers. They have been felt and they have definitely been answered. Little man is feeling so good and nearly eating our bank account empty!

We go to court tomorrow to sign papers for guardianship over Rowen and Wednesday we should have our waiver in hand.....please, please pray for this process to go smoothly and efficiently. Our prayer is have the waiver on the airplane with me next Friday. We thank yall and love yall so much!!!

Today in Haiti

2011-11-23T21:01:00.004-06:00

3 Things Stand Out...

1. I(Payt) visited what is considered one of the most dangerous, most impoverished areas in the whole world...City Solei. And I am here to write about it!

2. I rode on a "moto", aka motorcycle aka a juiced up dirt bike, for the first time. Compare this to riding on a motorcycle in the Colorado Rockies mixed with the traffic of NYC! Fun times!

And lastly, I fed a baby boy at a local malnutrition ministry. He was 1 of about 150. He was 1 year old. He weighed approx 12lbs.

This baby boy, Emmanuel, also had a large wound on his face and another smaller on his hand. My thought, "he must have been burned", "he must have been injured."

However, his reality was much more gut wrenching than that.

This precious baby boy's starvation had gotten so desperate and so hopeless that he had began picking and scratching at his face and then eating what he could get off!

His own flesh was his last hope!

His own hand was all he could find to help his hunger!

(The above two pics are not actual pics of children I saw. No cameras were allowed in the ministry. However, the pics do accurately give an insightful depiction of the multitude of babies I saw today.)

Unfortunately, this is not a one time case or an unheard scenario. This is the reality for hundreds of others in Haiti.

Please pray for baby Emmanuel.

Please pray for Haiti.

"...The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."

James 5:16

Daddy Is Here and We're Recovering......

2011-11-21T20:15:00.009-06:00

and I don't think we could be happier.....

Rowen and I have had a rough couple of days. My smiling, happy, and ham of little boy has been very, very sick! If hes not knocked out, hes been screaming bloody murder and impossible to console:(. Its made for some long days.

I had two different doctors look at him last night, and they diagnosed him with an extremely bad ear infection which is likely causing him headaches, dizziness, and constant popping in his ears. After some antibiotics we're feeling pretty good.

More later. I left the camera card adapter at home, so now that Payt has delivered it, lots of updates on the way! And congrats the Red Raiders for making the fourth round of playoffs...we're so proud and were cheering for you all the way in Haiti!

ONE

2011-11-14T21:14:00.009-06:00

As mentioned HERE, we had the privilege of attending a fundraiser for Lifeline Adoption Agency out of Birmingham. The title/theme of the banquet was ONE......

There are 148 MILLION orphans......

The need is VAST.....

No ONE can do everything, but we can all do ONE thing.....on behalf of the fatherless.....

Payton and I hear this comment from people all the time in regards to our adoption process.....

"That is so sweet/awesome that ya'll are called to do what yall are doing."

As we smile and nod, we respond by explaining that we're not "doing what we're doing" because God has "called" to adopt. We're doing what we're doing because the Lord has graciously revealed to us that as believers and as children of God, we are COMMANDED to; not encouraged, not potentially called, but COMMANDED to......

...take care of the orphans (James 1:27)

...defend the fatherless (Psalms 82:3)

...speak up for those who can not speak for themselves (Proverbs 31:8)

Please know my heart and understand that this is not a post to applaud me or Payton for our personal adoption process. We're not any better, we're not any closer to God, we do not have a more "spiritual" relationship with the Lord, than anyone else! I say that as humbly as I possibly can. Please do not think we're patting ourselves on the back. We are just as messed up, sinful, and do NOT have it all together just like everyone else.

But from the day we got married our prayer has been to see and touch the heart of God and to always desire to do His will.......

And again, its not Heather and Payton's "special" will or our "special" calling.....as believers, its ALL OF OURS!

David Platt was our guest speaker at the banquet and he could not have said it any better when he said......

"Are we really wanting to be parents, or are we just consumed, interested, and obsessed with reproducing our genetic makeup."

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

A Weekend/Week Behind....

2011-11-14T19:20:00.001-06:00

As the title reads, I'm a weekend and a week behind.....

Sunday afternoon (2 Sundays ago), our favorite Haitian couple arrived to the big city (Guin). Pastor Francky has spent/is spending the next week speaking at churches. While he was in Guin, we had the privilege of serving him and his wife while they stayed at our farm house.

Pastor Francky served as Payton and our church's translator during their trip to Haiti this past Summer. He is now serving us personally, as our translator and another right hand man throughout this adoption process. We consider him our hero and a God send to us! We appreciate him more than he will ever know.

Slight explanation that we have not shared with many people: we spent the entire first day we arrived in Haiti (our October trip) traveling to pick up Rowen. Long story short, when we arrived where Rowen and his caregiver were currently staying; the caregiver refused to let Rowen go with us. Apparently word had gotten to the caregiver that we were seeking after Rowen to adopt him illegally. Being the Godly and integrous woman that she is (praise God), she wanted nothing to do us or our "intentions" that she had falsely heard. While sitting under a tin roof in a torrential down pour for two-three hours and praying harder than I have ever prayed, Pastor Francky communicated (remember.....they speak French) to her efficiently our true and faithful intentions. Pastor Francky shared with her our hearts and our desires for Rowen. As you have seen; the peace and discernment that I desperately prayed for in that very moment came upon her and she complied.

He not only was God's vessel used in a mighty way for us that day, but he has gone above and beyond to help us in anyway possible throughout our process thus far.

FYI: We have no hard feelings towards the messenger of this miscommunication, we just simply rejoice that God, as always, triumphed over Satan's scheme in attempt to keep Rowen from being our son. Another testimony of God's faithfulness.

Tuesday night (last week), we were invited to a Banquet Dinner in support of Lifeline Adoption Agency in Birmingham by some our of two dearest and best friends, Jessica and Justin Barnes. Jessica and I have been best friends since our Freshman year of college at Auburn. I couldn't be more thankful for the life and marriage of her and her precious husband, Justin. They are a another picture of God's faithfulness in our lives. We are honored and privilege to be walking this journey with them. More on the banquet later.....

They began their adoption process Fall of 2010, and because of the conception and birth of their precious baby boy, Eli, their process was forced to be held until Eli turned six months. Eli is now six months, and their pursuit continues. You can follow their story HERE.

Jessica and I adopted 3 African American children from a surrounding city of Auburn while we were in college.....it was a big brother/big sister type of program that we invested our time with, but we spent every spare hour with the three of them. I have no doubt it was God preparing us before we had a clue for what was to come in the future.

Switching gears......it is officially Christmas at the Junkin's. Trees and decor are up.....I started about two weeks ago and besides two undecorated trees and the outside of our house, we are about finished.

Had to get a jump start since two weeks of the holidays will be spent in Haiti with our baby. We are beyond excited and can't wait to our hands on our little fella. Please continue to pray for the waiver and my fingerprints!!!! We're doing our best to remain calm and patient, but we're nearing our ropes :).

Christmas Cards.....TINY PRINTS

2011-11-12T12:18:00.011-06:00

Tinyprints.com is offering 50 free Christmas Cards. Their only requirement for qualifying is to create a blog advertising, or Facebook or Twitter the offer. When every penny in your bank account is going to the government, immigration, and to the courts of Haiti.....the word "Free" or "Deal" in the Junkin household isn't ignored :). Also, if you post your advertisement before midnight of the 14th you will receive 24 free address labels.

So here are your instructions to receive your Christmas Cards......

1. Go here and fill out the form first.

2. You will get an email with instructions telling you what to do.3. Then, blog about it and use Facebook or Twitter too.

Thank you, Katy for passing this along!

"Waiting Here For You"

2011-11-10T10:20:00.009-06:00

If you have watched the video below, you may recognize the words in between the quotations above. "Waiting Here For You" is a song by Christy Nockles. It has become a theme song/reminder song for Heather and I during Rowen's adoption process.

As I(Payt) sat this morning listening to the song over and over, so weary and literally crying out to God, I felt the Holy Spirit impress within me a beautiful truth....

"Payt, this is not just a "reminder" song for you during this adoption process. The lyrics of this song express what I am going through in regards to YOU! This song is assurance that I know how you feel. You feel the weight of the wait for Rowen's presence, I feel the weight of the wait for YOURS!"

Be reminded: You are being "waited" on and His love for us, far outweighs any love we have to offer!

(and if you haven't heard the song, check it out)

"Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

P.S. Heather and I will be going back to see our boy over the next few weeks. We are going and coming at separate times, but none the less we are getting to spend some more QT with the Row-man. Praise Jesus! We humbly ask for your prayers and look forward to sharing with you when we return!

Rowen's Journey Part 3

2011-11-07T11:01:00.000-06:00

Zella.

2011-11-06T00:26:00.008-05:00

We've decided on a name. She is so sweet, and I've adjusted. And I'm SO proud of my husband for sticking to his word of keeping her an outside dog. Before you start thinking we're cruel for leaving her outside......she stays nice and warm in a little side room (off of our house) of her own. Payt is crate training her, so until her dog house is built, this will be her home for now. I am, however, an occasional sucker of letting her inside at night before she/we go to bed. As long as she stays off my rug, we're all happy :).

Fingerprint Update: As mentioned here, my fingerprints were overnighted to Virginia two weeks ago. I called Thursday to check their status and was told that they were, once again, very cloudy. The lady told me that they would try to read and hopefully clear them by this Thursday. If not, they will take another approach that could take anywhere from 2 weeks-6months. Please, please pray that they are read so this frustrating obstacle is behind us!

Waiver Update: Details still being worked out, which means we do not have it in our possession which also means, the President still has not signed it! Pray this will happen SOON!

These are two big hold ups in our process. Nothing can move forward until both are finalized!

Thank you again to everyone who is constantly and efficiently praying. Even when we don't feel it....God is still faithful!

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T16:17:00.003-05:00

This time next year my little man will be here to participate in the festivities. Cant wait!

Happy Halloween!

A Junkin Update

2011-10-30T21:12:00.019-05:00

It is about time for one! Bare with me as I attempt to inform everyone on the latest updates in the Junkin household. According to my husband, this adoption process is causing early stages of Dementia. I can't seem to keep my thoughts together...... I could spend the next week sharing stories from this past week that explain his reasoning for thinking this, but I won't.

We spent most of our week advertising and preparing for a Yard Sale that was intended to begin Friday morning, but due to some precious early birds; the sale kicked off Thursday afternoon. Who knew Yard Sales were so much work?? Especially for these night owls that NEVER see the sun rise. Friday and Saturday brought some early mornings followed by super long days......

But as always, God was beyond faithful and our community expressed more love, support, and generosity than we could have asked and prayed for! Once again thank you, thank you, thank you for expressing your love for our baby boy! And most importantly......THANK YOU for taking part in the Gospel with us as we pursue this child that God has chosen to be our son.

Your giving and buying totaled over $2000! We are humbled, grateful, and amazed to say the least. The COLD and rainy days did not keep our community away. God is good and He always provides!

Adoption Update: In the middle of the Yard Sale on Saturday, we scooted away from a few minutes to meet our social worker, his wife, and their precious new son at our house to complete our Home Study. Besides my fingerprints that we're still waiting on (more on that in a minute), our home study is COMPLETE! Yay! Some home studies are known to take up to five and six months, we have completed ours in two week. Our social worker, Tyler, has gone above and beyond to be efficient and quick! We are so thankful for him and his precious family.

Fingerprints Update: After this blog post, I received a text message from a good friend in Birmingham that is also pursuing adoption, encouraging me to call and check on my fingerprints, thank you Chandler :). I called the very next day to find out that my fingerprints have been REJECTED! I was sick! So long story short, I ran around like crazy on Monday and Tuesday getting my fingerprints redone and over-nighted. I boldly placed a sweet little note in my packaged asking the FBI to please expedite them.......we'll see if that held any weight. Ha.

For those that know me.....please embrace yourself. I'm about to shock you all.

We're getting a dog! This little fella will be an official Junkin next Saturday. He WILL be an outside dog, which is the ONLY reason I have agreed to fulfill this passion of my husband. For those that don't know me, this is a complete shock because I have very little toleration for animals. VERY LITTLE.

Its a full blooded lab by the way. Payton's lab, Allie, passed away about two years ago. And until Rowen, he had no desire to get another (my lack of interest in animals probably had a little something to do with it). But while we were in Haiti, we discovered that Rowen loves dogs! Anytime one would pass by, he would point his little finger and say "woo woo" (his way of barking).

SO, I believe once Payton witnessed this, his wheels begin spinning and conveniently a family in our community just had puppies. "The things you will do for your kids".......I guess it now begins.

If the adoption paperwork hasn't caused me to lose my mind.....I'm really about to!

My best friend, Jana, spent the night and afternoon with us! So thankful for her consistent pursuit of our friendship.

And tonight we had our Fall Festival at church. Thank you so much to those that helped make it so fun and successful!

Happy Halloween!

And again, THANK YOU for being apart of our lives!

War Eagle......

2011-10-23T07:07:00.000-05:00

....from Haiti.

Happy Game Day!

(and my husband just made me aware of the fact that my effort to speak French to the girls......was SPANISH. Oh, well....I tried)

(and I was made aware that this video was set private, thank you, Mom and Brittany :)......I think I've fixed it. Forgive me! New to You Tube)

Prayer Warriors....

2011-10-20T15:08:00.003-05:00

First of all, our words can not express how grateful we are for you and for your prayers!!! We know so many of you are praying.....not only because you are gracious enough to tell and remind us, but we know, because WE FEEL THEM!! So thank you, thank you. You each have a huge part in this story, and we have no doubt that Rowen will come to the understanding of the power of prayer at a young age because of you!

We have had our nose in paperwork all week! Even though, I'll be spotting a few grays in the next few days, I am grateful. Each piece of paperwork completed is one step closer.

We had our first Home Study meeting on Monday which is a huge jump in this process. Our Home Study, which consist of three to four meetings, has to be completed before our dossier (fancy word for ALL paperwork) can be sent to Haiti and processed through the Haitian court system.

Our Home Study social worker just returned from the Ukraine where he and his wife just finished their adoption process of their precious son. God has placed this awesome man of God that has just recently been our shoes and understands our urgency in our path to get this process wrapped up as quickly as possible. We have our second meeting next Monday and our third on Saturday. The Home Study is being expedited.......

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING.

Before we went to Haiti, DHR and other attorneys informed us that the State of Alabama has a "One Year Law" stating that you have to be married one year in the state of Alabama before they will approve you to adopt. After meeting with Tyler, our Home Study social worker, we were informed that law does not apply to us because of the type of Visa Rowen will be using to come to the USA.....

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING.

God has put some of the Godliest couples that are also adopting from the Children's Home in our path that have helped us more than we could asked. They are putting up with my constant questions through phone calls, text messages, and Facebook messages. They have gone above and beyond in guiding us through this process.....

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

Rowen is in some of the best hands right now! We are so thankful for their constant effort to update us on how he is doing. So far, he is reported of being the sweetest and cuddliest baby in the Children's Home. That obviously makes this momma so proud, however, I can not take credit for his demeanor nor his behavior. I believe it is a combination of the Lord answering prayers that his little heart, mind, and spirit will remain at peace while he there AND his amazing caregiver that took care of him before he became ours.....

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

Thus far, we feel that God is truly expediting this process and we write this post to not only update, most importantly, to encourage you that your prayers are being answered! And again.....

THANK YOU FOR PRAYING!

If you still feel like praying, which we know you all do :)......

Pray.....

that the waiver we need for the president to sign will be completed and sent to us over the weekend. Our social worker in Haiti has been working so hard preparing that for us. Once she sends the waiver to us, we will send it to our connection that God put in our path, he will hand deliver it to the president, president will sign it, our connection will send it back to us, and we will send it back to Haiti.....complex, I know. So please please pray.......the entire adoption is contingent on this waiver.

Pray......

that my finger prints will hurry up and come back! We have received Payton's back a few weeks ago, but we've yet to see mine. Guess my criminal history is being questioned :)

Pray.....

that this process will continue to be EXPEDITED!

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2011-10-17T22:32:00.004-05:00

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EXPEDITE

2011-10-15T00:31:00.009-05:00

For some reason this word has resonated in my spirit all day today. I spent most of my afternoon yesterday at the court house changing my name on my license and my passport. I flew as a "Millington" this past trip, because my name had not been changed on my license or my passport. But now that we are diving head first into getting our adoption paperwork finished, I felt it might be necessary to officially be a "Junkin :)." Who knew changing one name on your passport would be a process in itself.....and not to mention $$$ (expensive). And in order to make my trip back to Haiti in November (yay!), I needed my new passport expedited. It not only cost more money, but the bright orange sticker reading "EXPEDITE" that they slap on the front of the package has stuck in mind all day!

Later this afternoon, I spent some time at the elementary school as our sweet principal wrote a letter needed for the adoption. In her letter, she asked that this process be "expedited." Its not a word I hear or use every day, and there it was again.....

So THAT has been prayer.......that every ounce of this adoption process would be EXPEDITED! As most of you may or may not know, adoption is a process. And in most, if not all, cases; they are a loooong process. But I have decided to commit to pray this over our journey.

"Lord, touch and anoint every piece of paperwork and expedite it. "

God has revealed small portions of His goodness and His power to us already concerning this process. I say small, because I know He is SO much bigger than what we have seen so far, and I believe that there is so much more to be revealed. We know God has spoken loud and clear that Rowen is our son, and living day to day with our son in another country is tearing this mommas hearts to pieces.

Yall have been so faithful and diligent in praying for us and Rowen, and I can not accurately express how humbled and grateful we are because of your love and support! SO please please continue to join with us in praying. We want our baby boy home so bad, we can barely stand it. So much of the process is out of our hands, but we're clinging to that fact that GOD holds all power and all authority.

As of right now, we are waiting on the waiver we mentioned HERE to be drawn up for the president to sign. Without the waiver, three years is our time frame. But we feel God put the connection of the president in our path because he knew it would be necessary. Therefore, once the waiver IS signed, the process could take anywhere from 12-14 months........but since we're believing and praying that God WILL expedite this journey, our baby boy will be home sooner.

Expedite: to make a process or an action happen sooner or accomplished much quicker

When...

2011-10-14T08:16:00.005-05:00

When what we see, seems that it cannot be...God!

When hurdles are put on the track and it seems like the race can't go on...God!

When the world says, "You've got a snowballs chance in hell"...God!

When there is no where close to enough money...God!

When the enemy does everything in his power to try to thwart a plan...God!

When you fly in the smallest airplane ever and you think you might pass out...God!

When you have to leave your son in another country...God!

When we were orphaned and left with no hope...God!

Missing our boy today, but so thankful for His faithfulness. As we strive to focus today on the "when" moments along our journey to this point, we pray you will do the same. He intervenes, He overcomes!

"...Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20

We're Home

2011-10-09T19:50:00.007-05:00

And desperately missing our baby boy!!! He is settled into the Children's Home where we know he is being taken care of and loved on, BUT this mommy and daddy have had one tough, emotional day and are about work like crazy to get our baby home! Thank you again for your prayers, they were definitely felt. We love you all so much and are beyond grateful for your support. This child has stolen our heart, and we ask that you please join us in praying for a super speedy adoption process.....otherwise, Mom may not survive :)

Rowen's ONE

2011-10-07T22:58:00.009-05:00

Rowen's official first birthday is September 21st, but since we obviously were not with him on his birthday......we partied in Haiti tonight!

Since a birthday cake would not fit in our suitcase, the lollipop had to stand as a replacement.

It was a hit.

We're literally soaking up every second we're getting to spend with him. We cant keep our eyes and hands off of him. Thank you again for prayer! His little life is being changed forever.

Peek-A-Boo

2011-10-06T21:38:00.005-05:00

Guess Who?!?!?!?

It's Rowen......we're safe, bathed, and ready for bed!

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. Its been a LONG, hard day, but we have literally felt every single prayer. God continues to amaze us with His faithfulness. We love you and cant wait to share more. Get ready for picture overload. He is one photogenic little guy and a big ham :). We're in love.

From Haiti to Home, Part 2

2011-10-04T11:19:00.015-05:00

After Haiti...

(its another long one, so bare with us)

Our last day in Haiti had officially come and gone. It was Saturday and we were on the plane headed home.

My trip humbled me. It broke my heart. It opened my eyes. It blessed me. It moved me. It changed me. But, most importantly, as I sat on the plane from Port-au-Prince to Miami, reading the Word and spending some quality time with the Lord, I knew my trip had started a pursuit for Heather and I! It didn't all make sense and I had my doubts, but I knew we were to pursue. So, thats what we did.

On July 9th, after being home a few days and filling Heather in on the whole situation, we began to fast and pray. We committed to fast and pray for one month. From July 9th to August 9th. I would fast from coffee.(which those who know me, know that this is a biggie) And Heather would fast from Diet Coke. (those who know her, know that is a biggie)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

FYI Disclaimer: We are fully aware that to some a fast in this sense may seem lame. "Yall really gave up a lot, ha, NOT." We are also fully aware that some reading this may get the impression that we are trying to boast about how "spiritual" we are. "NOT", as well.

The truth is, we see fasting as a tool used throughout scripture to better enable God's people to hear and see Him more clearly. By the grace of God, we are His. Therefore, this was what we felt led to fast from. This was how WE were faithful to pursue. Giving these things up led US to more prayer and more pursuit of His will regarding the issue. And He was faithful!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During our time of fasting and prayer, we discovered the reality of how hard it is to adopt from Haiti. We uncovered minimal contacts of people adopting from Haiti. We were steadfast in our commitment, but truly felt like it just may not be God's will. To be precise, this is the actual excerpt from the government issued information website on adoptions around the country...

AGE REQUIREMENTS: Under Haitian law, the prospective adoptive parent must be 35 or older. For married couples, one prospective adoptive parent may be under age 35, provided the couple has been married for ten years and has no biological children. The adoptive parent must be at least 19 years older than the child they intend to adopt.

Supposed to be married 10 years, at this time we had been married 4 months. Supposed to be 35, we are both 9 years away from that wise age. Its early August and our "pursuit" is looking more and more like its "pur-not gonna happen!"

Sunday August 7th my prayer went something like this, "Lord we have been fasting and pursuing and praying and we still don't feel like we have an answer. Jesus, either way, please just supernaturally show us if we are to continue to pursue the adoption or not." Simple, non emotional prayer.

On Monday, August 8th I received a phone call from my parents. They had just gotten out of a meeting with an investor that they do business with in Birmingham. Haiti had come up. As I listened to my mom tell me about the connection with Haiti that was made through their investor friend, I also couldn't help but hear the Lord speaking loud and clear. It was evident through what she told me that we were indeed to continue to pursue!

Get this!

We left this sentence out when I shared with you the government excerpt above, concerning Haiti adoption....

"These restrictions can be waived with permission from the President of Haiti."

Get this!

The connection that was made through my parents investor friend was a connection to the President of Haiti! The investor's boss that my parents met with knows the President of Haiti personally!

So, WOW, do we serve an awesome God or what!? We spent August 9th(the last day of our fast) writing an email to the "friend of the president" of this investment company that may potentially end up helping us make the adoption happen.

To add to the faithfulness of the Lord spoken above, while I was in Haiti the Lord kept impressing upon my heart to read the book of Esther. Come to find out, Rowens haitian name Mardochee is a derivative from Mordecai. Mordecai was the adoptive father of Esther. So, how does all of this relate!!??

Well in the book of Esther, their is a scene in which Esther must take a step of faith. She must put herself in deaths scope and step into the King's court to plead her case. Here is what could potentially happen....

“All the king’s officials and the people of the royal provinces know that for any man or woman who approaches the king in the inner court without being summoned the king has but one law: that they be put to death unless the king extends the gold scepter to them and spares their lives." Esther 4:11

And here is what happened to Esther...

"On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the palace, in front of the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne in the hall, facing the entrance.² When he saw Queen Esther standing in the court, he was pleased with her and held out to her the gold scepter that was in his hand. So Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter." Esther 5:1-2

Long story short, we feel making this contact with the friend of the president was the Lord's way of extending the gold scepter to us. Our since of feeling drawn to the book of Esther mixed with the contents of the story and what happened on the day after we prayed for clarity to be made....Was undoubtedly the Lord saying to us, PURSUE!!!! So we did......

And so we continue.....

In the days that followed......

we reconnected with Pastor Francky who was more than willing to assist us. He has been a God send through this whole process. He has communicated with Rowen's caregiver and passed all information along promptly
we made contact with Children of Hope in Fairhope, Alabama who will do our home study and help us prepare our dossier (for those who are not familiar with that term, because we weren't, it is a fancy word for A LOT of paper work).
found out a group from Montgomery were flying down to Haiti October 6-10, so we took a leap of faith and booked 2 tickets to travel with this group
the rest of the month was spent organizing our trip and spending more time researching

As we mention in Part One, Rowen's current caregiver is pregnant and is due at the end of October. Due to these circumstances, we felt it was imperative to find somewhere for him to go until our adoption process was complete. She mentioned to me this Summer that she would not be able to take care of him when her baby arrived.

A few weeks ago, Heather received a text from a great friend in our church informing us of a couple that she heard about that was adopting from Haiti. She gave us their information and we quickly made contact with them. They are from Cullman, Alabama and are adopting twin boys. Their twin boys are currently in a Children's Home started and ran by two American missionaries. The Children's Home takes care of children who are in the process of being adoptive. Therefore, these missionaries, along with volunteers, work with the children on their English, teach Bible Lessons, and work on their learning skills according to their age.

We obviously immediately got a hold of the couple over the Children's Home to see if they would be willing to take care of Rowen. And once again, because of the faithfulness of God, they had an opening and were more than willing to take care of our baby boy until we are able to bring him home.

So......as most of you know, we begin our journey to Haiti at a whoppin' 2AM in the morning. Tomorrow we will pick up Rowen from his current caregiver and Sunday night and Monday we will have the privilege of moving him into the Children's Home.

We stand in awe of God's hand in this process. Things haven't been easy, but God is putting the pieces of the puzzle together and we give Him ALL the glory. HE is and has been the one making things happen.

Ephesians 3:20

Sorry for the length......this should conclude our novels. Get ready for LOTS of pics of the Row-man!!!!

From Haiti to Home, Part 1

2011-09-29T15:45:00.002-05:00

We have been promising a "whole story" version of the adoption process to this point.

So, HERE IT IS, part 1 that is. Brace yourself, its kinda long!

Pre-Haiti...

It all started before Heather and I ever met. We both individually knew that we would adopt one day. We both felt the call. We both knew that it would be. We both held that passion. Little did we know that the Lord would have us pursuing 6 months into our marriage!

Going way back, (or at least what seems to be way back) in May 2009 after we had been dating approx 7 months, Heather had the opportunity to be a hostess for the phenomenal Christian fiction author, Karen Kingsbury. During this weekend we had the blessed chance to hang out with Karen and her family. During this weekend, we learned that in addition to her son and daughter that were with her, she also had 4 other boys that did not make the trip. Three of those boys were adopted from Haiti! This expereience led us to our first real, in depth talk about adoption. We knew the Lord would have us adopt and we truly felt like the Lord planted a deposit for adoption from the country of Haiti as well.

Fast forwarding, in January 2010 the massive earthquake shook and brought terror upon the country of Haiti. During this time I felt especially burdened for the country of Haiti. Sadly, most of the time when a catastrophe strikes like this, I will watch and keep up with the catastrophe for a little while and then it will slip away. Out of sight, out of mind right!? Again, unfortunate, but true for me! However, this time it was different, I had an unusual burden and compassion towards Haiti and didn't fully understand why.

Early Fall of 2010, myself and many others from our church began discussing a mission trip to Haiti. It seemed out of reach and, at a glimpse, that there was no way we could make it happen. But God had other plans! In late Fall of 2010, FBC Guin had a team and was signed up to serve with the Alabama Baptist Association in Jacmel, Haiti. I now understood why the extra burden for Haiti had been on my heart!

June 25th through July 2nd 2011, we would have a team on the ground in Haiti. The 18 people on our team would serve in two job specific teams, a medical/evangelism mission team and a construction mission team. I was placed on the medical/evangelism team and began all of the necessary shots/prep/and training.

Before I knew it, the end of May was here! Heather and I's wedding had come and gone. We were getting settled into married life and Haiti was on deck, which Heather was not to thrilled about after being married only a little over a month!

For those of you who know us, you know that figuring out our sleeping habits was an issue in the beginning of our marriage. I like the TV on, Heather likes it off. Seems like a small problem, but trust, it was not! At this point, we had gotten into a routine of me falling asleep first and then Heather turning the TV off and falling asleep second. One specific night toward the end of May I had fallen asleep and began to have a dream. The dream was me sitting on the edge of a bed watching an old black and white television that was playing a Lady Gaga concert. In the dream, I stood up from the bed and began walking towards a door. In my dream it just felt evil so I had to get out of there. As I walked towards the door, I began to wake up, but I could not wake all the way up. I felt suppressed! I could hear Heather trying to wake me up, yet I could not move or truly wake up!

Finally, after much struggle, I awoke with a loud roaring type scream. Weird I know. I immediately began to say over and over to Heather "Its demonic", "Its demonic", "Its demonic"! Well the next night, one of Heather's friends, Beca the Rapper aka Beca Beezie, came over with a shirt on that said "Gaga for Haiti". When I saw her shirt, I felt the Lord reveal to me that my dream and Haiti were connected! As I pondered the irony, I knew that my dream had indeed been an attack from the enemy. He was trying to strike fear in me. The enemy did not want me to go to Haiti. And ultimately, He was trying to keep me from crossing paths with the soon to be Rowen Thomas Junkin.

(Quickly, just a shout out to Beca, I dont think you were used by Satan by wearing that shirt!ha Jesus used you to get my attention that the dream I had was not just a normal, weird dream. So thanks Beca for being obedient to wear that shirt!ha With that said, on the real, watch out for that Lady Gaga, I do believe she has some forces behind her that are not "heavenly"!)

Now back to my point about the dream, I am a student minister, but I promise I am not an over the top "super spiritual" kind of guy if you know what I mean. With that said, I do believe this was an attack from the enemy! I do believe in Ephesians 6:12!

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

I do believe we must acknowledge this passage. We must not sweep it under the rug. We must call Satan out on his attempts and we must stand up against them. We must be awakened and on board with God in turning what the enemy intended for evil into good!

I would later find out when I heard Rowen's story that both of his parents were killed at the end of May. I truly believe that my dream and the timing of his biological parents death were connected in some way. His parents were not believers. I believe one of the enemies reasons and intent to attack me was because he knew what was coming. He knew that he was victorious in taking Rowen's biological parents, but that the Lord still had a plan for Rowen's life. I believe my dream/experience was one of Satan's pathetic, weak ways of showing his disproval of God's plan and his attempt to try and thwart it.

Again, I am not this "super spiritual" person, but I do believe the above written to be true. What the enemy intended for evil through what may seem like a small unimportant, uneventful attack, the Lord has and is using for good. Through Satans attempt, Jesus has added more confirmation to our pursuit!

In the words of Joseph from Genesis 50:20, "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done..."

In Haiti...

After two flights, all the prep, all the shots, all the bathing in prayer, all the attempts by the enemy to make the trip not happen, Saturday July 26th was here and my feet had hit the ground on Haiti soil. Bittersweet because Heather did not make the trip, but so sweet because I knew the Lord had me here for a reason!

A 5 hr grueling, wet, rough ride on a bus without shocks and a sleepless, no A/C and no power night welcomed us on our first night in Haiti. I have never been more thankful to see the start of a new day than I was on that Sunday morning! After breakfast and church at a local Baptist church in Jacmel, we were back at the hotel for some free time. During this time was when I had my first conversation about adoption with the amazing Pastor Francky Jeune, who has been our english speaking Haitian hands and feet in the process to this point. Pastor Francky and I talked about adoption from Haiti for some time. I shared my heart. He shared about the process. It was one of those conversations where you walk away stirred. I did not know why I was so stirred, but the rest of the day, our conversation was all I could think about. Little did I know what Monday would bring...

(Children's Sunday School at the church we attended)

(Pastor Francky)

Flexibility is a key word in Haiti. I learned about it first hand Monday morning. After the long ride in a "tap tap", which is the Haitian version of a taxi, which is nothing like our taxis here, we arrived at our first clinic! Compare riding in a "tap tap" to constantly riding over train track after train track after train track with no shocks in your vehicle! Yeah, so after that long ride to our first church where we would set up our first medical clinic, we discover that we had left a key bag of meds back at the hotel. Yeah, so back to the "tap tap" for my second and third ride on the constant train tracks! Insert the flexibility here.

Upon my arrival back to the clinic, Pastor Francky met me immediately with the words, "I have your orphan baby", "I have your orphan baby"! Our first patient through our first clinic on our first day was...

Mardocee Darryl Gilot!!! (his Haitian name)

When I first took him in my arms, he was burning up and a very sick little boy. He had a 102 degree fever, runny nose, and an nice little abrasion on his head. The first two and a half hours I held him and he didn't budge except to turn his head from one side to the other!

During these first two and a half hours, my mind was racing, contemplating, praying, praising, and doubting . "Lord is this coincidence?", "Lord is this just chance that our first patient is an orphan baby boy?", "does this have anything to do with why I was so stirred yesterday after Pastor Francky and I's conversation?", "No this cant be my son, this is crazy!", "Payt dont be stupid!", "Payt this could be your son!". This is just a glimpse into my mind during those first two and a half hours!

Rowen stayed with us that whole first day. His caregiver sent milk and diapers and we made a bed for him out of our bags that the medicine was carried in. He was a sick boy and at the end of the day showed little improvement. We packed up and he went back to his caregiver. We saw over 200 patients this first day, but one patient stuck in all of our minds.

Day two looked much like day one, we were back at the same site and Rowen was back as well. He was still very sick. He spent all of day two with us as well. Finally, at the end of day two and after a strong antibiotic shot, he showed much improvement and we left him with the peace of knowing that he was physically much better.

But, I left with many questions, lots of anxiety, and the big question "Do I have a role in this precious baby boy's story?"

(those fingers never come out of his mouth)

The next two days, Wednesday and Thursday, we were at different sites serving other areas. It was away from the area Rowen was in, so we did not see him. Over these two days, the thought of him and what the Lord may have in store engulfed my mind. I laid awake for hours at night wandering, envisioning, praying, and seeking what was to be.(and in between sweating, listening to voodoo bands right outside my window, and sweating some more) I also was able to talk to Heather briefly about the situation.

Thursday night, as I lie in bed about to fall asleep, I prayed, "Lord if I am to pursue this further, let me have a dream with him in it." I had to know something because our last day was Friday and we were going to be back at a clinic close to where Rowen stayed. I knew if I was going to get to see him and find out more, Friday was my chance. So sure enough, the Lord was faithful, that night I had a dream with me holding Rowen! I woke up Friday morning and made arrangements to get the word to his caregiver that I wanted to see him again.

(This is the hotel we stayed in)

After a long, tough day Friday when we had seen a baby girl die from preventable causes, Rowen's caregiver pulls up with him on a dirt bike. Yes, dirt bike, dirt bike's are a very common means of transportation in third-world countries. Everyone was ecstatic to see him and that he no longer had a fever and was feeling much better. We were able to love on him, get some video of him(which I would put on here but cant get it on my computer), and find out more vital information on him. We were able to hear more about his situation, get his full name which I mentioned above, and find out a very vital piece of information that put his story into a more desperate category....

...His caregiver pictured above is PREGNANT! And her exact words were, "when I have my baby, I cannot take care of him"!(of course those were not her exact word because she speaks French Creole) But anyway, this to me served as added confirmation.

#1 he is the true definition of orphan. And now, #2 the person caring for will not be able to for much longer!

I walked away from our time with Rowen on that last day more confident than before that the Lord indeed desired for us to pursue bringing Rowen, from Haiti to Home!

From Haiti to Home, part 2 to come!

Rowen Thomas Junkin

2011-09-26T12:26:00.002-05:00

is "baby boys" official/given name. Payton is in the process of working on a post that tells the entire story....its a LONG one. So until its ready to post, I'll leave you with this update. Baby boy has a name!!! Before the Lord put adoption in our path, we had already decided on three names for boy and one name for a girl. Knowing we would adopt at some point in our lifetime, we assumed that these names would be given to our biological babies. However, God has chosen baby boy to be our first, therefore we find no reason to "save" those names. In our eyes, there is and will be no difference.

So in order to decided between the three, we googled the meanings of each name to see if either of the three had a "profound" meaning to help us decide. Two of the three meant nothing monumental, but the third name (Rowen) means "red head". Its definitely not anything "super spiritual" or "profound," but since baby boy will never have the chance to be red headed like our biological children possibly will, his name will at least mean "red hair." And Thomas is Payton's middle and it my grandfather's first name. So there you have it Rowen Thomas....no more "baby boy".

We are greatly anticipating our trip. I have spent hours preparing little man's wardrobe that we will be able to leave with him along with his first Shutterfly book (in hopes for Rowen to learn the faces of his new family) .....

More updates later

Guest Room

2011-09-25T19:58:00.000-05:00

Before, After.......

New Design and Additions

2011-09-22T08:29:00.001-05:00

New DESIGN!

Lego's.

New pants and tutus (on the way) to match any shirt or onsie.

Gown

0-3 months

3-6 months

Short and Long Sleeve Onsie

3, 6, 12, and 18 months

Girls short sleeve and long sleeve

6, 12, and 18 month

2T, 4T, 6, 8, 10, and 12

Boy short sleeve and long sleeve

6, 12, and 18 month
2T, 4T, 6, 8, 10, and 12

Football/Sports

****All sports can be done in any team colors****

Fall

***Single initial and name can be done on pumpkin***

Owls

***Initials can be put on all***

Christmas

Plaid Monogram

Boys

Girls

Elegant Boy Monogram

Elegant Girl Monogram

Beach/Summer

Frogs and Pirates

Birthday

Monogram

Email: millingtonhk@gmail.com or facebook me!

Payment: Check through mail or Credit Card

Thank You......Again!

2011-09-20T20:52:00.016-05:00

We are still receiving so many sweet emails, messages, and phones concerning our baby that we lost. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you! I still can't say it enough. Between our baby in Heaven and our baby in Haiti, it has been an emotional, exhausting roller coaster in the Junkin house. However, God has used all of your encouragement, support, love, interest, and prayer to keep us moving. So through you're faithfulness, He has shown us the depth of His faithfulness.

I have read so many emails and messages from girls who are either sharing in the same suffering of presently losing their baby or have suffering the loss of baby in the past. So this post is primarily for you, the mothers of those grieving. I have shed many, many tears over your messages and emails. And you have no idea how humbled I am to walk through this season with you. I want to share this book with you in hopes to encourage you like this sweet book did me. A precious lady in our community passed down her copy to me, and nothing has meant more to me than her sacrifice to give her book to me. Her desire is for me to eventually give it to someone else when I feel led. Since, I don't feel led to let it go quite yet :).......

You can find the entire book HERE.

I had Baby Junkin a baby blanket made to remind me of this time in my life and all the Lord taught me through Baby Junkins' 6 week life. I'll be glad to pass the resources to those interested.

Thank You again!

Another Day at the Farm

2011-09-17T23:11:00.010-05:00

And apparently it is "dove season." There is nothing less appealing to me than sitting in a big field doing absolutely nothing but waiting and waiting and waiting on doves to fly by.

I don't totally get it, but I was glad that they enjoyed their selves and proud that all of their sitting and waiting paid off.

Happy weekend........

and win or lose......War Eagle !

Guess what!?

2011-09-15T13:11:00.000-05:00

WE ARE ADOPTING!!!

On July 9th (the Sunday Payton returned from Haiti), we started the prayerful pursuit of making this little guy from Haiti, a Junkin. As mentioned here, we have experienced great victory and great loss in the past two months. But praise God for teaching us of His power and sovereignty through it all. In the midst of still grieving the loss of our baby, we look at this face and quickly become overwhelmed with peace. We know that THIS baby boy is who God had chosen and who we are choosing to be "our first born", "the big brother", and "the beginning" to our growing Junkin family.

On October 6 we will fly to Haiti to spend some time with "baby boy".(which is what we are calling him right now until we ~~decide~~ agree what his name shall be ;) This will be Heather's first time in the country of Haiti and her first time to meet "baby boy". Excited, nervous, anxious, overjoyed, and surreal are just a few of the words that describe our emotions about our upcoming trip.

The story of what God has done and the mountains He has moved to get us to this point is truly remarkable. We serve an amazing, faithful, sovereign God! We look forward to sharing in detail the full story very soon. In the meantime...

We humbly ask you to PLEASE join us in prayer!

Please pray for "baby boys" health, well being, and protection.

Please pray that the entire adoption process will be unexplainably smooth. (Adoption from Haiti is a very, very intricate, difficult, and huge PROCESS.)

Please pray for safety for our upcoming trip and that the Lord begins to supernaturally instill in us a motherly and fatherly love for "baby boy".

Minky Baby

2011-09-14T08:51:00.000-05:00

Personalize Minky Gown

Size: 0-3 months

Price: $29.99

Monogram or applique anything.

Cross Gown

Size: 0-6 month

Price: $23.99

Minky Cross Applique

Pink

Dress

Size: 12-18 month

Price: $29.99

Pant Set

Size: 0-6 month, 12-18 month

Price: $32.99

Gown

Size: 0-6 month

Price: $21.99

Accessories:

Bib: $14.99

Zebra

Dress

Size: 12-18 month

Price: $29.99

Pant Set

Size: o-6 month, 12-18 month

Price: $34.99

Accessories:

Bib: 14.99

Headband: $14.99

Blanket: $29.99

Lovey: $15.99

Giraffe

Pant Set

Size: 12-18 months

Price: $34.99

Dress with Tights

Size: 12-18 months

Price: $45.99

Accessories:

Hat: $16.99

Bib: $14.99

Headband: $14.99

Diaper Cover: $21.99

Lovey: $15.99

Bibs

Minky Paisley

Price: $14.99

Minky Polka Dot:

Price: $12.99 (left) $14.99 (right)

Paisley Minky Reversible:

$14.99

Diaper Covers:

Price: $21.99

Diaper Wipe Holder:

Price: $24.99

Monogram and Minky in any color.

Email: millingtonhk@gmail.com or Facebook
Check or Credit Card

Pantry Investment

2011-09-13T07:13:00.001-05:00

Good Grips.

Great investment! Go HERE.

Labor Day, Fall, Farm/Football......

2011-09-10T21:48:00.024-05:00

Yay for all the above! This is definitely my favorite time of year! I love Summer for about a month, but I will eat up every ounce of the four months ahead. Fall, COOLER weather, Football, HOLIDAYS, and all the food and decor they entail!

We spent Labor Day weekend at the lake. And since the weather welcomed us to stay inside to lay around and EAT, this is the only picture I took.......no doubt it sums up our Labor Day weekend.

I think we suffered through at least 6 dozen (no exaggeration) of this tasty treat. They are bite size (which entices you into eating more than your stomach can handle), they are super easy and quick to make, and they are delicious!

Make them if you haven't already.....

Bag of square pretzels

Bag of Rolos

Bag of M&M

Put in the oven for about 5-7 minutes at 275 degrees. Let cool and slightly harden.....and EAT!

I was told that the "appropriate/traditional" time for Fall decor was after Labor Day. I usually don't follow the appropriate guidelines for decorating for holidays ( Christmas will be out before Thanksgiving....sorry), but since most of my Fall decor was still in Birmingham, I was forced to wait! But its up, and the house is covered in candy, orange, and the scent of Pumpkin spice!

And Saturday we spent the day at the farm.

We love this place! We just don't seem to get out there enough.

Its wide open.......

Adventurous........

Peaceful........

Relaxing....

And besides the newest additions.......the chickens

And.........Pedro who will not let you forget he's around.......

Its quiet........

That's all for now! Except I have to say 'War Eagle'.....Payton seems to think their last minute pull thrus are luck.....I call it favor.

We Thank YOU!

2011-09-06T20:40:00.004-05:00

I can't seem to muster up the words to express how humbled, encouraged, and appreciative I am by the love and support that we have felt by all of you! I sit here in tears, because I am still truly overwhelmed by all of your phone calls, text messages, facebook comments, emails, gifts, cards, and messages. I really wish I could hug every single one of your necks and cry on your shoulder like I have on Payton's because of your sweet, sweet words of encouragement. You have taught me so much and have made this season of suffering such a sweet experience.

You have taught us what it looks like to operate as the Body of Christ. You have taught us that fervent prayers can and will accomplish much. And you have taught us the importance, vitality, and the need of genuine encouragement to one another.

So thank you thank you thank you thank you!!! I cant say it enough.Thank you for grieving with us, praying for us, selflessly taking time to minister to us, and for loving us.

I still think about my baby all day everyday, however, I can finally make it through the day with out shedding a million tears. So because of Christ in YOU, every day has and does get better!

So again,

THANK YOU!

Happy Engagement Anniversary...

2011-09-02T09:19:00.002-05:00

To the worlds most perfect wifey!

I love you Heather Kath!

Happy Engagement Anniversary!

Expecting Pure Joy

2011-08-30T12:50:00.000-05:00

I struggle as to where to begin explaining the roller coaster Payton and I have been "riding" the past few weeks. I'll warn you ahead of time, I'm raw and I'm vulnerable. And this post could get quite lengthy.

In the past month, we have experienced great victories. We have seen God, in His power only, move mountains! We've had prayers answered and His plan uncovered. However, on the flip side, recently we have began walking through a season of deep suffering and heart ache that, to put it bluntly, STINKS!.

We anticipated being able to spend today coming up with a creative, fun post for the blog to share the exciting news that two little pink lines revealed to us last Monday. I was a few days late and feeling unusually tired, so Monday afternoon we started taking pregnancy tests. Over the course of the week, we were 5 for 5 in positive pregnancy test.....yes five. Test one, two, three, and four didn't sink in. Once we were convinced, we immediately scheduled a doctor's appointment, began pondering creative ways to reveal the news, and I of course, had the nursery designed, diaper bags picked out, predicted/claimed it was a baby boy, had him named, and the list goes on.

However, after several episodes of bleeding more than usual over the weekend, a negative pregnancy test Sunday morning, and a doctors appointment yesterday afternoon; the news we dreaded was confirmed.......we have lost our baby. We are grieving and mourning; yet doing our best to consider it pure joy as we encounter this trial and season of suffering. It is, by far, the toughest thing I've ever walked through. And I only share with you, to point to Him!

I find pure joy in the peace and comfort of my Heavenly Father that has covered me through my wonderful husband. I can not find the words to explain how amazing he is and has been these past few days. He has been my blanket of peace and comfort. And more than ever I am overly grateful and completely humbled to have him at my side for "better or for worse". He is truly my angel.

I find pure joy in knowing that my body can naturally conceive.

I find pure joy in family that has surrounded us with tears, constant encouragement, gifts, and prayers.

I find pure joy in friends that are grieving and mourning with us.

I find pure joy in the body of Christ bathing us in prayer.

I find pure joy in the hope of eternity and knowing I will hold my baby one day!

All in all, I find pure joy in the faithfulness of Christ......because He is good, ALL THE TIME!

As much I would have loved more than anything to have been able to hold and rock our precious baby, I rejoice in knowing that God's plan for us and our family exceeds my imagination. All six weeks of that little "sesame seed" has changed our marriage, our ministry, and our lives forever. That baby has stretched and matured our faith, grew us closer together, and put us face down at the feet of Jesus. For that, I am eternally thankful and in that I also FIND PURE JOY!

We thank all of you from the depths of our hearts for your genuine prayers, unwavering support through visits, phone calls, and text messages. We thank you for your unconditional love and tears shed on our behalf. Words can not accurately express how much we appreciate and love you!

Please keep praying for us.

**And just for the record, no we had no idea we were pregnant in the picture above. At the time we considered it an "awkward" picture and joked about the fact that it looked like we were "expecting". Turns out we were! I now consider the picture a blessing and "gift" from God. We will always have it to honor and remember our little "sesame seeds" life!

Whatever you are facing in life today, as a believer, be reminded of James 1:2-4!

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

He has a plan and He is in control even when it feels like He is not.

CONSIDER IT PURE JOY!

Gettin' Caught Up

2011-08-22T22:17:00.007-05:00

Sometimes I get caught up in thinking that this life is about me. It is not.

Sometimes I get caught up in the lies that I am inadequate. I am adequate.

Sometimes I get caught up in being prideful. My best is "filthy" rags.

Sometimes I get caught up in materialism. I can take nothing with me.

Sometimes I get caught up in anxiety and fear. This is not from Him.

Sometimes I get caught up in the lie that "ministry" is a waste of time. It is not.

Sometimes I get caught up in loving myself more than my wife. Ephesians 5:25.

Sometimes I get caught up in doubting my dreams.......

but then I am reminded.......

they are His dreams!!!

As Christ followers, even though we may get "caught up in", we are NEVER caught!

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Keep fighting, keep pursuing, push through.

Eternal implications apply!

D.O.F.

2011-08-17T21:35:00.005-05:00

Hey friends! My mother in law owns a precious store here in Guin, and because I love babies/kids and their clothes, I have been "hired" (really volunteered :)) to get her cute stuff out there even further. So, we are designing new stuff and coming across some super cute lines. If you see something you like email me (millingtonhk@gmail.com) or find me on facebook.

And as far as this particular line, you can get anything on anything you want.....onsie, gown, romper, t-shirt, etc. Sizes start at infant and extend to a size 5.

More coming!

Happy Birthday!

2011-08-15T12:55:00.035-05:00

to 196!

A year ago today, we bought our first house. And with lots of intense remodeling, spending most, if not all, date nights in Lowes or Home Depot, internet surfing for the perfect furniture, and a few arguments here and there over construction decision; our little home has grown so much.........

Kitchen

Living Area

Laundry

Master

Master Bath

Guest

Guest Bath (still under construction)

Payt's Office

and still has a lot more growing to do. We are so blessed and beyond grateful for God's provision

Our Heart Is Captured.

2011-08-13T10:50:00.002-05:00

"Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."

Psalms 82:3-4

Weekend

2011-08-07T16:22:00.011-05:00

Payton's brother surprised Jess (our sister in law) with a little anniversary get away, so I practiced putting my OCD to side, made the house the house kid-friendly, and spent some great QT with our favorite nephew and one of our favorite nieces.

Grocery Shopping.

The Junkin version of Yogurt Mountain....."Junkin Mountain" as my husband likes to call it.

Lots of Elmo on the laptop.

Exploring the neighborhood.

Pallets.

Playing in the "big bed."

and some tent and forts.

Hope everyone had a great weeked!

In Reply......

2011-08-05T18:20:00.004-05:00

Lana,

This is in response to your comment on the last post.

You aren't as impressed with this picture as I am, but I don't think any other picture could better describe our friendship than this one.....

And I genuinely and truly have wanted an excuse to blog this picture.....your sarcasm has now given me a reason :). And just like the picture, as I'm sure you probably said something sarcastic or hysterical, this was my reaction to your blog comment.

I love that you always make me laugh.

I love that you work for Veggie Tales.

And I love that you and my husband enjoy each other's company........ALOT!

The Junkins love you ALOT!

We're Home!

2011-08-03T17:39:00.000-05:00

We're home....at last! I'm sure like the rest of you, we have had a super busy Summer full of weddings, vacations, and mission trips. And since we didn't have a single free weekend at home with nothing on the calendar, we are so glad to be at home with no agenda and just a few prior engagements.

However, in the midst of the busyness, we are further blessed from the memories we made through spending so much time with close friends, children and youth of our church, and family. God has humbled us and has taught so much over the past few months.

In the past two weeks, we celebrated with two very close friends in marriage, took the youth to Mission Fuge in New Orleans, and spent the previous week at the beach.

Kudos to you, if you finish this post.....its a long one!

BUT because of one of the two weddings.......Guin, Alabama has gained one of my best friends.

Beca married one of Payton's childhood friends, Tyler Markham. God is good, and we are so excited about "doing life" with them in the same city.

The following week, we spent five full days with some of our favorite youth kids in New Orleans at Mission Fuge.

Mission Fuge provides the opportunity for the youth to grow in their relationship with Christ while serving needs in the city of New Orleans.

We are so blessed and honor to serve these kids! They bring us purpose, life, laughter, and a deeper meaning of the Gospel. Serving them has changed our lives!

Wedding #2 (tube socks and all).....

Another best friend, college roommate all five years at Auburn, and a childhood friend.

We had such a fun, refreshing weekend with some of the most solid group of friends. Andrea and Jesse will be living in Atlanta, and as sad as we are to see them move a few hours away; we're more excited about a place to stay during our many travels to ATL.

We only spent one day at the beach out of the entire week we were there......

But we didn't mind a bit. We spent the rest of our time eating, shopping, and dreaming of the day of owning a house on 30-A (aka Rosemary, Seaside, or this house on Alys Beach)...........

And in case you thought we were serious......we're not :). We will continue to be vacationers and definitely continue dreaming. But we did eat at George's and it definitely ranks top 5!

And if you happen to be in the Rosemary/Sea Grove area.........

We recommend V SeaGrove.

The BEST, especially the atmosphere and a hot date!

We ended our trip with lunch and a last minute shopping trip in Blue Mountain beach and found the location for a photographer that takes photos for a lady that I stalk through her blog........Flythroughmywindow.com I have been stalking this family's blog for almost 3 years now, and weirdly, know too much about Marla and Shane and their talented gift of photography.

And even weirder/creepier, I actually attempted to go in to introduce myself (yes, as a stalker of the Stickler family's); but the door was locked. Probably for that very reason.....ha.

I have no idea who this family is (well, yes I do, because I'm one of their faithful blog readers), nevertheless, I have never met this family; but she (Darby Stickler) is who inspired me to start a blog about two years ago. I want to be like her, and I bet if you've read it, you do too.

We're back. And as much as we would love to jump back in car and drive back down, we're so glad to be home with a little structure and a small schedule.

Hello

2011-07-28T11:13:00.018-05:00

From the Beach!!

Here We Are.....

2011-07-25T13:44:00.006-05:00

We had a wedding last weekend, left last Monday for New Orleans with the youth for Mission Fuge, returned home Friday, went to Birmingham and back Saturday, and we are now thoroughly enjoying ourselves at our house for the week in Grayton Beach.

We've been non stop the past two weeks, and this week we're nothing but this........

More later.

Sabbath Day Monday

2011-07-12T07:13:00.004-05:00

I've come to realize that my husband can not cook anything without raiding our pantry in attempt to create his own special "concoction". So yesterday morning, we invited Payton's sister Kacy, our sister in law Jess our niece Bekah Joy and nephew Brooks David over for blueberry pancakes.........

As you see, his creativity, once again, started brewing; therefore we enjoyed pancakes ..........Yogurt Mountain style aka Pancake Mountain as Payton referred to our house all morning.........

These happy rascals loved the options of having Cinnamon Toast Crunch, M&Ms, and brownies in their pancakes. Nutritious huh? We like to use the excuse "its Summer time" for meals like this and for the fact that breakfast didn't take place until 11:00AM.

Payton is also responsible for my new milestone.

Picking Blueberries. And I say its a milestone because this is something I never spent time doing in B'ham.

I felt like a true country girl! Until my legs started to itch and I ended up spending the latter part of the event in the car in the air conditioning.

Payton's grandparents and parents both have blueberry bushes. And after a trip to the grocery store, I was pretty thankful for the resources. Payton's new obsession is blueberries and we could easily spend a $50-60 a week just in blueberries.

No More Dress Shirts

2011-07-10T21:34:00.004-05:00

Woohoo! We have treatments....finally!!

And speaking of treatments.....the Haitian parasite treated itself and has finally left our household! Thank you for prayers, phone calls, and check ups on Payt. Hes a healthy American again.

Lake and Haiti

2011-07-06T20:52:00.011-05:00

Payton arrived safe and sound! Our reuniting has consisted of nothing but relaxing at the lake, curling up in our bed looking at tons of pictures of precious Haitian people and babies, and getting rid of a Haitian parasite. I'll spare you the details, but he's (the parasite) a tough little guy and just wont seem to surrender.

We spent the 4th at the lake.

We took one boat ride that night, because we spent most of our day eating watermelon and cuddling on the couch.

Hope everyone had a safe 4th of July. I am thrilled beyond words to have my husband home. Besides the little booger that wont leave his stomach alone, he has come back with a changed and stirred heart. I am so proud of him and cant get enough of his precious self.

Happy 4th!!!

2011-07-04T08:02:00.009-05:00

Words cannot accurately express my gratitude for the country we live in after experiencing the despair in the country of Haiti. A thank you to our troops and to the generations of people who have made this country what it is today. Though not perfect, there is plenty to celebrate...

Like our countries waste management system.

Like our countries water works system.

Like our countries food health regulations.

Like adequate shelter.

Be blessed today.

Be safe today.

Be thankful today.

Celebrate USA.

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love." Galations 5:13

He's Home....

2011-07-03T22:35:00.000-05:00

and changed forever! More to come...