Embracing the Future

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past"
(Isaiah 43:18, NIV)
This picture speaks a million words especially thanks to @missywilson for sharing the awesome story behind it.  Thank you goes out to @mylifespeaks for taking the photo of our proud young man!

To add to the story from Missy...  At first we thought this was just a picture of Jinyò and the photo album we made for the kids.  In reality this is a picture of our kids loving us back.  Upon looking closely at this picture, the kids added a few of their own embellishments.  They wanted to be a part of making the album too! Nou renmen ou; Monique, Jinyò and Frantz!
We are so amazed at how God is bringing our family close together even though we are thousands of miles and an ocean apart.  We are so thankful that you all are walking with us on this journey, it wouldn't as amazing with out each of you!
Blessings,
Melanie

Trusting

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight"
(Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV)
Our lives have always been a bit unpredictable.  Some people would say we are very conservative but most conservatives do not move across the country with no family and no friends...  We had to trust the Lord in so many things at that juncture of our life there just isn't time to go into those details.  The point is we learned to trust and lean on the Lord.  He met our every need and He was never late.
We are honored again at this juncture of our lives to lean and trust again on the Lord to provide all our needs.  There is a monetary need obviously adopting three is not an easy monetary task.  We are concerned there but He is again providing and we are trusting.  We have paid a portion of the adoption expenses thus far but have been blessed with fund raisers that have provided an equal portion.  God has also provided an overwhelming peace in our hearts and minds, we have great excitement and anticipation with every fund raising event!  We know each event brings our children closer to home!
We are trusting blindly God will help us with our paperwork!   The sea seems endless but there is light at the end of the tunnel.  We just want to be sure He is the paperwork, all the t's are crossed, the i's are dotted and that once our home study is complete and combined with the dossier that He with his infinite power causes it to fly through immigration, translation and on to Haitian soil where it will continue to need this infinite power!Yes, we are a little anxious to bring our kids home - like tomorrow!
We have to lean and trust that God is working in our children's hearts across the globe.  We pray for the peace of mind, that they are covered and overwhelmed with the same peace and excitement that we have.  They have had great loss at such tender ages and our hearts are gaping open with compassion for them and we know the Lord's is as well.
I cannot imagine the love and heart break of a Mommy who can come to the realization she can no longer take care of her children and selflessly but with great hope gives her children an opportunity for a second chance.  We are praying for this Mommy and all the single parents around the World who are making the same decision.  We do hope we will be able to meet the children's Mom and we hope we will be able to send her letters and pictures from time to time so that she will have the same rock solid peace about this adoption as we do.  We pray she is able to trust and lean on the Lord during this time as well.  We have some very large shoes to fill!
We are a spoiled Nation here in America.  (soap box)  We have a government that aids families so they do not have to give up their children.  I ask how many homeless families in America willingly give their children to family members or the State for an opportunity of a better life? We are a selfish Nation.  The selfishness starts here, right here with you and me. 
Really this boils down to just a few details; we are not only honored to be chosen for these three Heaven Sent Haitians we are honored God has given us another opportunity to lean and trust in Him and to draw us closer to Him individually and as a family!

Jinyò

We can tell by looking at pictures just how serious Jinyò is.  He seriously takes care of the younger children in the orphange and he especially takes care of his family; Monique, Frantz and us!
When our friends were leaving Haiti this weekend they went down to the crèche to say goodbye to the workers.  Jinyò was with the workers and he was very excited.  He proceeded to try and get Mike to understand he wanted a special picture for Mama Blanc.  Jinyò finally just grabbed Mike by the hand and took him to his bed.  Jinyò took out the family album we made for the kids and asked Mike to please take a picture of him with the book for "Mama Blanc".  Mike of course did so!  The pictures of this event will follow when he returns from his speaking engagement in Falls Creek Falls, TN.
The story continues with the kids learning that we live near Mike and Missy so they will get to spend time with their friends Tìa and Naika who were adopted earlier this year.  They were jumping up and down with pure joy!  We will have one huge Haitian family in Franklin, TN before long!
We are living and breathing on each story that comes back from Haiti.  This is our life link to our kids that we so dearly miss each and every day.  We cannot express in words just how our hearts ache to pick them up, twirl them around, kiss their foreheads and love them forever!!

Daily Life and a Bed

We know the title is a bit odd but it fits us none the less.
This a day like any other since May 1, 2010.  We get up and go about our day stopping often to wonder if Monique, Jinyò and Frantz would be happy with our "plan of the day".  What will they think, say, do and... 
Some days like today we take this step a little further.  Joshua had a track meet today and we wonder if Monique or Jinyò will want to be on the team next year (surely they will be home by then).  Then we go on to wonder if they will be sprinters or long distance runners and how will we ever keep Mr Frantzy Frantz occupied at an all day track meet?  Surely we will manage!  We take it even further and wonder if they will like all the snacks, the gelato ice treats and...  We hope and pray they will love their new life and that they are just as excited about it as we are!
We can't wait to get them home and learn all the answers to these questions.  In the mean time we will keep wondering with excitement!  You know that butterfly feeling in your tummy excitement, yay! 


Oh a bed...  God provided a bed yesterday!  We can now sleep 8 comfortably on beds and still have the hide-a-bed if anyone dares to come visit!  We cannot describe how much all the outpouring of love means to our family.  We have been documenting everything so our children will always know how much they are loved not just by us but by our entire circle of friends and family.  Yes, He is in deed providing everything for Heaven Sent Haitians!  You ALL are sooooo AWESOME!!
The Colson's

Amazinly Blessed!

We could hardly sleep last night after seeing a video of Monique, Jinyò and friends singing Jesus Loves Me.  So when I woke up before my alarm and saw pictures too, I was blown away!  We have been rejoicing in these pictures ALL day.  Words can't explain our gratitude!  We are so blessed to have people in Haiti who love our children and us so much!

We get to send more pictures to add to their book in 2 weeks!

Blessings

The Lord promises to never leave us or forsake us.  We committed to these children in true blind faith.  We know a portion of their story and learn more about them and their personalities from missions trip team members who are gracious enough to share pictures and stories.  We have 28 fans on facebook in a matter of only a few days and we are amazed at the outpouring of love from complete strangers for us and our Heaven Sent Haitians.
Today we have been blessed again with generosity.  When adopting you must have all these evaluations that prove your health physically and mentally some of these appointments are covered by insurance and well some are not especially when categorized as "for adoption".  God managed to pay for our psychological evaluation today - just a $350 savings and...
We could not have asked or at least wouldn't have asked...  A neighbor who was in our community group at church stopped by our garage sale and decided to go home to have a family meeting about our adoption; they decided to have an impromptu garage sale and are giving us all the money plus an additional donation.
God has covered every adoption expense so far and we are honored.  We truly are being blessed beyond measure with our Heaven Sent Haitians and the journey to bring them home.
We rest in His assurance that as He provides the funding to bring our children home He is also providing healing for their hearts.  We miss them more and more with every passing day!
Thank you again for walking with us in prayer and support!
Watch this video link of Jesus Loves Me  Jyinyò is on the far right and Monique is to his left.
In Him,
The Colson's

Daily Reading...

Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy will go on forever"
(Isaiah 61:7, The Message)

Steve and I have had our share of trouble and more than our share of contempt and we can't help but embrace and claim this scripture.  Our three precious Heaven Sent Haitians are truly from God and we cannot wait to physically embrace them in our land!
In Him,
The Colson's

Frantz's Big Smile

We hope this smile is because he is somehow grasping he is loved beyond measure not only by God but by us.  Thousands of miles away we hope and pray our children can somehow grasp our love for them. Not a day goes by we do not think and pray for them.   We often wonder what can we be doing differently to get them home quicker, etc...  Our hearts ache for them every day.  We know that our family is not complete and will not be complete until...
We will have T-Shirts soon...  Praying very soon!
Again, thank you for your support in however you have decided to support our journey.  We are grateful for everything from the prayers to the donations!  We know everything grows with prayer so if that is where you are please do not feel guilty for not "giving" more.  God knows your heart.
The Colson's

Impromptu Bake Sale

OK... The impromptu bake sale by Amanda's figure skating friends made
$148.00!! We think this is so awesome! God is providing for our
children each step of the way! This will pay for our finger
prints. :o)

Thank you!!!

News from Haiti

A bit of news from a new friend who just got to spend a week with our kiddos!! 
"I hear that you are adopting Junior, Monique and France. I went to Haiti with BGM this past week and got to know them very well. They are all three so precious! They also all love you very much, we were all on the phone with my mom and they kept asking me to call you because I told them I live near you" This brought tears to our eyes!  We are in love, we are in love and we don't care who knows it! 

We just can't wait to bring these little bits of heaven of home.  The pictures and stories are fabulous and the four of us are just more anxious to hop and a plane and smuggle them home so they can be with us.  We wantt o hold them, hug them, pinch their cheeks, laugh and cry with them and...  It is times like these some scriptures are hard to swallow but my scripture of the day today is "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise…" (2 Peter 3:9, NIV)  I am sure it is God's intent for me to read this all day.

We have our last appointment for the home study on June 22nd. There is still a lot to do for immigration and we are sure there things to do we do not know about!  We are working hard to get this done and into the translators hands as soon as possible.

T-shirts anyone?? You can pre-order your sizes!  Also, remember to stop by Scentsy Wickless Candles to order candles that just make sense.  ALL proceeds go towards adoption.  We will also hopefully be setting up a fund with our church so if you would just prefer to give a tax deductible donation or anonymously we should have that set up soon too.  We also do not want to discount the folks who are walking with us in prayer, working hard at our garage sale and in other areas, we know the power of prayer and standing together.

THANK YOU everyone and for everything you are doing to help us bring our Heaven sent Haitians home!  We are truly honored to have you on our team.

Garage Sale and Picture Updates!

We had our garage sale today...  Our first fund raising event!!  We had fun, lots of volunteers yesterday for set up and today for selling and tear down.  THANK YOU to everyone!!

We also got these updated pictures from our friends coming home from Haiti today.  I LOVE the technology today for this very reason.  Hopefully we will get plenty of picture updates over the next several weeks as Brent Gambrell Ministies has several teams headed to Haiti through out the summer.

We hope to have a fund set up through our church soon where you can donate tax free to the adoption of Monique, Junior and Frantz. 


Thank you for your support in prayer and walking with us on this wonderful journey of adoption!