Our ICPC

We are so happy to say that our ICPC = Interstate Contract, has been sent to Georgia!!!
Now this doesn't mean that James Graves, the ICPC person in Ga, has read it or is even in town but the good news is that we have done everything to get it done and here. Our prayers are that it satisfies GA and that we are approved. If it goes through then we are off to Washington!!!! yippeeeeee.

God's Love

Below is a blog from a family who has adopted 5 children from Liberia and has 5 bios. I wanted to share what she has written.....

Solomon wrote Brad and I a note that read, "Dear Dad and Mom, God never showed me this before, but I see that I am a new creation in Christ and the old things are passed away. So from now on I have a new name. I am calling myself Jedidiah and you can call me that now. Love, Jedidiah. (I took the liberty of correcting the spelling errors here, otherwise it may be indecipherable to those not familiar with children's phonetic spelling)I then thought about the new name we have been given in Christ when we were adopted in love. That name is "accepted and chosen." I was doing the Beth Moore bible study on the fruit of the Spirit and learned that in Isaiah 53:3 when it describes Christ as "rejected by men" part of that word "rejected" means "vacant." I remember when we first brought Adriana home from Liberia that is the word that described the look in her eyes: vacant. Abandonded, leaving an empty space that longed to be filled. Even as a baby that spirit of rejection was on her, and she was badly in need of the spirit of adoption. She is now a laughing, smiling, much less fearful little toddler who makes eye contact glory to GOD! Does that mean she (or any of us) is 100% free of rejection and totally embraces what it means to be chosen in love and adopted into the family of God? Doubtful. There is something of our old nature that tilts toward the negative and finds it easier to dwell on the rejection of others rather than embrace our new status as "chosen and accepted" in our Beloved Jesus. But my prayer for all my children is that whatever rejection they experience from others will only drive them closer to the unfailing love of the Father, who sent His Son for them. Jesus Christ knows what it is to be rejected by His own, but He was chosen by God to reconcile us to Himself, to make us a chosen people where before we were orphans and foreigners but now we are members of God's household with full rights as sons and daughters of the most High God.There is a book out in the adoption world called "When Love is Not Enough" about parenting children with what is called "Reactive Attachment Disorder." And it's true, as any parent of any prodigal child whether adopted or not will tell you, that our love for our children is not enough to change their hearts and heal all their hurts. But we don't love because we are trying to fix people, we love because God commands us to. Even if we don't see the results of our love in the natural, God promises that love never fails, He won't waste our love and there are eternal realities going on that are more real than what we can see with our eyes. It's like how I used to get disillusioned with homeschooling because it wasn't producing the perfect children I had hoped. Why go through all this trouble and hard work I thought, if there were no guarantees? Sweet Brad was the one who reminded me, "We are doing this because God told us to Jenny, it's an obedience issue." Just like we love because it is Who God is, and we want to be like our Father. We risk our hearts every time we choose to love, because others might reject it. It tends to be missionary-like zeal that propels many to adopt and those "fire and earthquake" moments at the beginning are all about the initial rescue. But once the dust settles you realize in the still small gentle Voice that there is a lot more to this rescue than "saving a life." It's a long and hard process of breaking off rejection and receiving the spirit of adoption. Some days I feel like Hosea when God told him to go marry a prostitute because it was going to be a picture of God's burning love to have a relationship with His unfaithful people. I've seen in my family and many others how parenting abandoned children is a picture of God's Father-love as He parents His hurt and rejected children. The levels of broken trust we have experienced along life's journey tends to dictate how much we struggle with false illusions of control, lack of trust in our Provider and Protector, and our struggle with really letting down our carefully constructed defense mechanisms to receive the outpour of love that is available to us at any moment. Father, teach us to all embrace the name "Jedidiah" which means loved by the LORD. Your Son knew full well what it was to be rejected by men, but He knew Who He was, Your beloved Son in whom You were well pleased. Thank you for the spirit of adoption and the truth that we are never alone and You will never, ever leave us. Make us secure, firmly attached to our Abba Father, able to trust and to love because You are trustworthy and have first loved us with an unfailing love. Love, Jenny

Photo Shoot of the Girls

I also wanted to add these photos of the girls who are doing wonderfully with their music.

Great News

We have news in the sense that our papers have FINALLY been sent to the ICPC office in Washington. That is great progress and means that all the papers have been gathered and there is no more waiting on that. We expect that it should take a day or so for WA's ICPC office to send our papers on to Ga's ICPC office and then wait to see what they say. Please pray that they see everything favorably. Also continue praying for the childrens hearts.

Still Waiting

Just an update to let you all know that we are still waiting for paper work to get to who it needs to get to. You have no idea what goes on with adoption through the foster system, or lack there of. Let me just say that if they were a private company there would be many law suits and companies going out of business. Pray that those involved would be touched by the Holy Spirit to "focus" and know what needs to be done and DO IT! Pray for the beginning of January for us to travel to go get our children. Also thanks to all who have posted messages, it means so much to us. Please pray for the childrens' stress levels. This is all very hard on them.

Check this out!

http://www.thebodiebunch.blogspot.com/
I just wanted to share this blog with your.
Enjoy

Girls Science Fair Projects

Victoria's Science Fair Project- 3rd Place

Katherine's Science Fair Project - 1st Place

Elizabeth's Science Fair Project - 1st Place

Kids Photo Books

Here is another picture. I'm trying to see if I can get it to be bigger. I wont know until after I publish it. Oh to have someone do this right. Anyway, these are the children's "photo books" we sent them introducing ourselves. They were about 45 pages long. We had a picture of each room in the house, each pet, every family member, coming down our street, the exterior of the house, things we did as a family and things around our area, parks, pools etc. When we talk to the children they ask us questions about the pictures and we tell them about what they are looking at. The children are in separate foster homes (except Gabriel and Jayson are together) so we've gotten to know their foster moms very well. Their names are Ruth, Alice and Wendy

(I share their names so that you can pray for them specifically). They have been a God sent for me and the children. They have given them a stable christian environment for over a year and have cared for them greatly.

Here they are

Obviously I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to this blog because the pictures are from youngest to oldest and they are stair step but we'll just go with it. From left to right.... Perry is turning 3 this month. Alyssa just turned 5 in Aug. Jayson will be 7 in Dec. Gabriel just turned 8 in Sept. and Sammy turned 11 in April.

Pictures

A special friend requested better and bigger pictures of the children. Also I'll give you their names and ages so you all can pray for them specifically. Thanks for asking Mrs. K. Hope you enjoy.

Paper Work Denied

This title sounds harsh but is not inevitable. Yes, on Oct. 8th we got a call from out social worker stating that the State of GA denied the paper work for the adoption of our children. At that moment I was devastated. But with many phone calls and clarifications we know that our homestudy did not reflect the matching of us to these children. Our social worker is now in the process of ammending it. The State of Washington also has to redo stuff and we too have to redo some papers because on Oct. 11 some of our homestudy expired. Soooo for the last couple of weeks we have been working diligently on all this. A blessing we found is that our papers made it through GA in record time. We just have to do it again!! We feel that there is a reason Burt and I have to learn about domestic adoption between states. God has a plan and we are to trust in Him in all things. Even this. On a brighter note we are talking to the children and developing a relationship with them on the phone. Also I am sending soft fleece blankets to each of them so that they can start snuggling with their new blankies before they bring them back home. This is for familiarity and security.
Also many of you may already know that Sammy will not be coming with us at this time. He is still working on many issues and needs the support of a well trained staff. Also the State of GA will not let him relocate until he reaches some goals. Please keep him in your prayers.

We've Talked to the Kids

Hello Everyone,
We've just had the most incredible weekend. We have spoken with the foster moms and with Alyssa, Gabriel and Jayson. They were absolutely precious. Their hearts are so ready to accept us and they can't wait to get here. Alyssa asked me if she could sit next to me when she gets here. They all call us mom and dad and say they love us. What an incredible gift they could give to us. Gabriel cant believe he will have 3 big sisters and asked Burt if he could help him finish the club house. Jayson said he loves everything we do in the "picture book" (which they all got). They all have great verbal skills and are not shy. We still have no idea when they will be able to come. Keep our paper work in your prayers that it may move quickly a swiftly through the different channels that be.

Welcome to Leap of Faith

Hello,

Welcome to the new Streater Family blog. We are so exited to finally learn how to do this. We think. We hope you find it helpful, exciting and connecting to us while we embark on the mission of a lifetime. We decided to do a blog to have you all, our friends and family, be a part of this exciting calling of Adoption. You are invited to come join us on this journey.