Monday, August 31, 2009

Heaven is the Face

You have probably heard of Steven Curtis Chapman before...He is an incredible Christian Singer Songwriter who has been around for many years. He and his wife also have a heart for adoption and have adopted three little girls from China. They created an organization called Shaohannah's Hope that helps orphans in various ways. Tragically, their 5-year-old daughter, Maria, died in accident in May of 2008. I cannot imagine the pain that family felt, but their story has once again been a testimony to what Christ can do in our lives when we include Him and let Him do the healing He wants to do. They have continued the work on their organization and it now has grown and has a new name and website...http://www.showhope.org/. They are also opening "Maria's Big House of Hope" which is a home where the "least of the least in society can receive the highest of care". Go to the website to watch the video clip! It is very inspiring!

Steven has also released a new song called "Heaven is The Face" which is absolutely beautiful....Be ready....get the Kleenex...this one is sure to touch your heart.

Heaven Is The Face by Steven Curtis Chapman
Heaven is the face of a little girl
With dark brown eyes
That disappear when she smiles
Heaven is the place
Where she calls my name
Says, “daddy please come play with me for awhile”

God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more
But God, You know, that this is what I’m aching for God,
You know, I just can’t see beyond the door
So right now Heaven is the sound of her breathing deep
Lying on my chest, falling fast asleep while I sing
And Heaven is the weight of her in my arms
Being there to keep her safe from harm while she dreams

And God, I know, it’s all of this and so much more
But God, You know, that this is what I’m longing for God,
You know, I just can’t see beyond the door
But in my mind’s eye I can see a place
Where Your glory fills every empty space

All the cancer is gone
Every mouth is fed
And there’s no one left in the orphans’ bed
Every lonely heart finds their one true love
And there’s no more goodbye
And no more not enough
And there’s no more enemy (no more)

Heaven is a sweet, maple syrup kiss
And a thousand other little things I miss with her gone
Heaven is the place where she takes my hand
And leads me to You
And we both run into Your arms

Oh God, I know, it’s so much more than I can dream
It’s far beyond anything I can conceive
So God, You know, I’m trusting You until I see Heaven in the face of my little girl


Click here to watch and hear him perform it....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_q3LGYR3oM

And here is the link to hear Steven talk about Maria's Big House of Hope and the writing of his new song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnHM_2x-pBI

Monday, August 24, 2009

The Schumaker Camping Adventure

Well, this weekend we decided it was time to dust off the old tent and camping items and bring our boys camping up in northern Arizona near the Heber area. It had been close to 10 years since the last time my husband and I had gone camping in our tent, but I was excited because I knew just how much our boys would love it!!! I just envisioned them being able to roam and explore, fish, help Dad build the campfire, roast marshmallow and make smores, and spend two nights sleeping in a tent!!! It was a beautiful picture in my mind!!

It started with Bryan calling me Friday morning telling me that I should be checking the weather channel since he heard it would be raining all weekend. I checked and it said there was only a 20% chance of rain. I figured it wasn’t that bad and we decided to forge ahead with our plans.

The boys were sooooo happy…about ready to pop with excitement as they waited for Dad to come home from work so that we could head out. We got on the road at around 5:00 pm and really had very little traffic. It was going to be a great weekend!!! As we were heading up the mountain we could see very dark clouds off in the distance and then streaks of lightning….which worried me a little bit. Then the rain started pouring on us, but only lasted a few minutes. Then right where those ominous dark clouds and streaks of lightning had previously been, reigned a beautiful double arched rainbow! I snapped a few pictures while driving.


We arrived at the campground at around 7:30 pm and it was dark, but there was no rain. The air was fresh and the smell of pine trees was glorious! We found our site and started unpacking and setting up the tent. The boys immediately began roaming and searching for sticks with flashlights. It was exactly how I had envisioned it. All went smoothly. Bryan and I actually got the tent up in great spirits without snapping at each other even once! We built the fire, set everything else up, got out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and Hershey bars, and the boys used the awesome long sticks they had found to begin roasting marshmallows. The night was blissful…



Until it came time to sleep. The double sleeping bag Bryan thought he grabbed was really only a single therefore we didn’t have enough sleeping bags and I ended up being the one left to freeze….hmmm.
The campers next to us didn’t want to abide by quiet time hours and laughed and partied well into the evening.

I am almost POSITIVE an animal resembling a bobcat walked stealthily past our tent right where I happened to be facing.
Then I had to use the potty. It was dark. It was cold, and I just thought I had seen a bobcat. I held it as long as I could, but finally gave in and crept outside……all I can say is simply NOT good!

The morning was beautiful. The sun was shining. The boys were excited beyond measure to jump out of the tent at the crack of dawn and go explore. They rounded up a bunch of sticks to make a “humongous” fire that night and thought it was the coolest thing to run around outside in their pj’s! I cleaned all the dirt out of the tent. We had some breakfast and went for a hike which was GREAT!!! We laughed ourselves silly at our son, Landon, who at 4 years old, was super determined to drag for over a mile a log (literally)that was nearly the same size as him back to camp for the fire that evening.
Next was the FISHING TRIP and that is truly where things started in their downward trend! Follow with me…
Fishin’ for catfish with chicken blood that Landon picked out at Wal-Mart?


Dead fish and crawdads (or something) along the shoreline.
Kids bored ‘cuz there are no fish and therefore start playing along the shoreline.

Kid falls into water along muddy, green, murky, fish gutty shoreline. COVERED with yuck!!! (How do I NOT have a picture of that?!)

Then….the rain!

We head back to camp and the rain pours harder. Daddy gave Landon a shower and then we decided that we would pack up and pull out of camp since we had no desire to sit in our tent and stare at each other! Our boys, however, were not happy and the tears were very sad. But, with a little bribery of a trip to Circle K (yes, we ARE classy) and gift somewhere along the line, the boys tears were dried and pack up is what we did.We spent the rest of the day on a road trip through a part of Arizona we had never visited before. It was a beautiful trip and I was reminded over and over again how amazing our God truly is!!! True beauty only comes from and through Him.

We finally got home at around 10:00 p.m. and we were all exhausted and a bit crabby….but overall, it was a
Memory of a Lifetime!




Psalm 36:3-9
The Lord merely spoke, and the heavens were created. He breathed the word, and all the stars were born. He assigned the sea its boundaries and locked the oceans in vast reservoirs. Let the whole world fear the Lord, and let everyone stand in awe of him. For when he spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command.



Isaiah 42:5
God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth.






























Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Paperwork? All Gone!

Well, the NBC (National Benefits Center) application has been filed, and all other documents needed for the dossier have been notarized, apostilled, and mailed off to All God’s Children so that they can begin the process of translating all the documents into the Bulgarian language. That means that we are almost finished with our paperwork! Now, we will wait for our NBC approval which can take 2-3 months. When we get that, hopefully the translating process will be finished and then we can be registered with the Bulgarian Minister of Justice. Please pray for favor in the approval and translating processes so that we can get one step closer to bringing our Selah home. I don’t want her to spend even a second more than absolutely necessary in any situation where she does not have the love of her very own forever family…the kind of love that I so wish every child in this world had.

I find myself amazed at how God knew before time began that our family would someday adopt…How He knew that He would place that desire deep within our souls. And here we are now having been given the privilege of realizing His grand plan…of feeling that ache in our hearts. As we take each step, I realize that plan even more. Each time I complete something, learn something, or as time simply passes, I find that new feelings erupt and an even stronger emotion and awareness occurs within me. I think how incredibly amazing it is that God knew I would feel this way…even when I never ever imagined the way I would feel!
Even though it could be another year until we get to cuddle and hold Selah in our arms, she is already a part of our family. We think of her all the time and can’t help but talk about her constantly! Zachary and Landon talk to others and write about their sister as if they already know and love her. Our little Zachary closes his prayer EVERY night with “Lord, please take care of Selah and tell her we love her. Let her mommy love her as best she can and don’t let Selah be hurt. Please just let her mommy love her and just not be able to afford her.” Every night he says this, my heart splits in two. It cries out to God repeating my son’s words and asking that He protect her and let her feel the love of a birth mother. But it also aches for the mother that has to surrender her child because she cannot care for her; A Mother that loves her child to a point of surrendering her…surrendering her to the faith that her child will live a better life apart from her. And then?...then I am left firmly standing in faith that God’s Word is Truth and that His Truth says He will make all things good and that from even a tragedy and injustice such as this… He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, and festive praise instead of despair. (Isaiah 61:3)