Gotcha Day - Dec 3rd

Last year at this exact time I was waking up in Uganda after a long trip from Florida and a very LONG restless night. Waking up that morning was hard. It didn't play out in real life like I had planned in my head. But the Lord carried me through. He allowed the fear and anxiety that was quickly overtaking my heart, my mind, and my strength to be turned into reminders that God was with us. He hadn't left us, he had always been faithful. That he had CALLED us. This wasn't something we thought would be cute and fun or temporary, but he had called us to be in Uganda at that exact time. And now he was telling us it's time. It was time to get packed, get going, and time to meet Eli for the first time. And he would be ours forever. Not just in our hearts but finally in our arms. We wouldn't be missing out on anything anymore. We'd be with him watching his every move, his every smile and his unique personality.

The trip was long. The days were long. There wasn't much about the process that didn't seem long. The Lord slowed us down whether we wanted to or not. He made sure that we stopped, and sat, and that we embraced our child, this precious one that he had given us.

The day was overwhelming. The day was hot. The day was joyous!!! The day was special. And it was one we will never forget. The day had tears, some of joy and some of sadness. But the day was conquered. And the day was ordained by God, just like everything else he does, his timing was perfect.

That day, December 3rd was lifted up in prayer by so many! So many of you prayed for us and that day wouldn't have been possible without your prayers. Thank you. Still to this day, those prayers are felt.

Here were a few photos captured from that day...

A long travel day!

Ready to meet our son!

Meeting Eli for the first time.

Reading Eli a book we had sent him months before arriving.

It was scary for all of us.

But we overcame our fears and began to laugh.

But it was hard to say goodbye.

Our first family photo.

Exhaustion set in.

*More photos from our Gotcha Day can be viewed at: https://www.facebook.com/jamie.davis.samuels/media_set?set=a.10203106266078640.1073741829.1266090615&type=3

Things I've Not Failed At..

While I've officially failed as a blogger for the year 2014, there are several things I've not failed at...

MAKING IT TO THE 1 YEAR MARK!
Today marks 1 year since Paul & I loaded up and headed to Uganda with complete excitement and complete FEAR! We had no idea what we were doing other than obeying God. But oh my, the craziness we would enter into and oh my, the love we would experience was about to rock our world!

Paul & I headed to Uganda

I still can't believe we spent an entire 6 weeks in Uganda, but oh how precious was this time with him. As we approach the holidays, many have already made the statement to us, "How exciting... your first Christmas with Eli." Many don't remember our actual first Christmas with Eli, because we weren't here. And yes, this will be his first Americanized Christmas with the rest of his family, but as for our first Christmas, it was last year. 

Eli & I on Christmas Day - 2013

Our first Christmas Dinner as a family with the Hardings in Uganda. 

MAKING TIME FOR MY FAMILY! 

Upon arriving home, we spent several weeks with just Eli & our close family. Throughout 2014 I've made sure that I take time during the week and at nights when I get home from work to spend time with my family. Work will always be there in the morning. Missions will never go away. Those in need will always be present. But as for my family, time will fly by (it already has) and Eli will grow up and I want to make sure we've made memories. We've laughed together. We've cried together. We've talked about Jesus together. And through these moments together, I can only pray that he will grow up to be a Man of God! (Please Note: None of our memory making moments ever include a picture of Eli smiling. But I promise he had a good time) 

Mother's Day 2014

Ugandan Reunion 2014

Playing at the park in Lakeland

2014 Family Photo

GIVING THANKS! 

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't thank the Lord for his wonderful mercy and grace and love! Eli's story has been one that has motivated me to be the best Godly parent I can be. I don't mean be the most giving parent (Lord knows Eli won't become Americanized because of our giving of toys), or the most understanding parent, or the most patient parent, but the best parent God has called me to be... one that prays over him constantly, prays with him daily, loves him for his unique qualities, one that will ask for forgiveness when I'm not patient or understanding, one that shows who God is and not just talk about Him. I won't always get it right, but I thank God for his faithfulness even when we screw things up. 

Valentine's Day 2014 - Eli's official Adoption Day - Praying in the courtroom! 

LEAVING A LEGACY!

I honestly believe that even if the Lord chose to take me tomorrow to be with him forever, I will have left a legacy for friends, family and Eli. It's important that I give my all each and every day. It's important that people know what I stand for and who I stand for. And if the day comes that those around me are unsure as to who I'm living my life for, may the Lord take me or may I be quickly reminded of all the reasons why I should be living for the Lord again. 

It's a lifestyle that often leaves me exhausted, FAILING AT BLOGGING, but ALWAYS PRAISING THE LORD FOR EVERYTHING! 

He just keeps growing!

My last post was in April. And I feel like things haven't slowed down since then! But in recent conversation and sharing our blog with someone, I realized. I need to at least post some updates.

Eli had lots of visitors when we returned home. Everyone did great in respecting our boundaries and we enjoyed seeing so many familiar faces.

Do Bunnies Lay Eggs?

I was troubled at Christmas and yet again, troubled at Easter. I wonder if this will only be for a season, but truly pray that it isn't and that my conviction remains as long as there is a desperate need in this world. 

Please don't get me wrong, I don't hate Santa or the Easter Bunny (although I don't really understand the whole bunny thing), but watching the numerous posts of children receiving a large, and I mean LARGE, amount of unnecessary, short lived gifts during these "holidays," are so troublesome to me. The time, resources and money spent on such items have left my stomach in knots. It doesn't hurt so bad when I compare my child to those in America, but comparing him to those of his native country (and really the rest of the world)... WOW... the Easter Bunny just sounds silly. 

Please teach your children truth, Jesus dying on the cross & rising 3 days later, Baby Jesus being born to the Virgin Mary, the Hope in these stories,  the amazing, undeserved love in these stories, the need for these stories. May our children not be disappointed when or if Santa doesn't show up. May they not be sad when the Easter Bunny doesn't pay a visit. May they be taught by you & me & their Sunday School teachers & their church families that there are soooo many children in the world that are waiting for food, clean water, a family, and all they have is Jesus. Jesus is enough and no Santa or Bunny will ever, in their life, visit them. May they grow up understanding reality & not false tales.

This isn't intended to guilt anyone or cause children to "miss out" on anything, but it's so incredibly important that our focus is always on Him. And yes sometimes, even our traditions, get in the way of what today is all about. (Be on the lookout in 2015 for a way to get involved globally to share with other children the true meaning of Easter.)

(Eli's first Easter - At least we have another year to figure out how to explain this picture to him) 

P.S. Most will read this post, because of the picture attached... I'm ok though with reeling you in that way... I admit it. I even considered including a picture of a beautiful, slightly malnourished, child from Africa with their Easter baskets & bunny ears, but had a rather hard time finding one... Hmmm? Wonder why? 

And just in case you were wondering, like myself... Bunnies don't lay eggs. 

Love Knows No Borders

Yesterday I mentioned how hard it is to hear, see & know of a need and not do anything at all about it. While some have different feelings about domestic & international adoption, to which I would challenge anyone that feels one is more important than the other to dig deep into scripture and ask that the Holy Spirit answer those questions, both are a need.

Bridgette & Craig Cook have begun their journey to bringing a child home into their home. This journey isn't free; It's costly! It will cost them their time, emotions and financially as well. While you may not feel called to foster or adopt (or at least not yet), I'm calling on each of you to consider giving up $25 this Easter weekend to help bring home a child.

The cross was for us all and I'm so proud of this young couple taking the cross, it's story, it's truth, to others, not just in their own community but across the world! Their adoption t-shirt does just that ... It represents just how far love can reach!

So head on over and check it out...

There is a need... What will you do about it?

It's hard to receive emails from friends that state... "There is an immediate need," and it's in reference to children that don't have a family. It's hard to swallow information when it's in your inbox of your email account, or on your Facebook page or in your mailbox. It's much easier to not meet the need, if we aren't aware of it. 

With that being said, I'm asking each of you to consider the following 2 things... 

1) Please pray for the children that are needing a family right now, right this moment. Don't wait, stop reading the rest of my blog and just simply pray. "For when two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there among them." Matt. 18:20

2) Come back tomorrow and read my blog on another family that needs your support in order to bring their child home. You WILL want to be apart of this. And whether you are called to physically adopt or foster, as Believers we are ALL called to DO SOMETHING! 

Be Obedient

Well, we've officially been home for almost 3 months! So much has happened over the past few months, it's nearly impossible to have ever imagined that this is what life would be like and that God would bless us with such an amazing child. 

For those of you who were able to join us on Valentine's Day as we finalized Eli's adoption, thank you from the bottom of our hearts. It was a day we will never forget! Click here to view pictures from our day at court. 

Eli celebrated his first birthday on Feb 21st. I can't believe he is already 1! There was a day in time where we weren't sure if we'd even be back in Florida to celebrate his birthday, but by the grace of God, we were. We only invited family over for this special day, as Eli had so much excitement throughout the week at the Hardee County Fair, it was best to just keep is sweet & simple.

While I've enjoyed so much of our journey and sharing so many good, bad, emotional, wonderful, exciting times with each of you, the updates from here out will be rather limited. Parenthood is hard work and we want to give our little Eli as much attention as we can, because he is already growing up so fast as he begin to take his first few steps last week. I'll try posting on our blog here & there. And of course, there is always Facebook, Twitter & Instagram where he frequently appears.

If you haven't already seen the video, here is recap of our journey to adopt Eli. We had major issues with our camera in Uganda, even asked for you all to pray at one time that it would start working. But despite the camera issues, we were blessed with 

​4​

 different photographers along the journey, 

​Emily Goodrich

,

​ ​i

n Uganda; Caroline Maxcy at the Tampa International Airport; Megan Hartman, at court; and Annie Agarwal, who although we begged a

nd​

 pleaded with

​,​

 to fly with us to Uganda and capture it all, was able to capture our first of many, family photos. 

Please be in prayer for Eli over the summer time as we have begun visiting with several Doctors on his health and he'll be having a minor procedure. 

This journey has been mind blowing and it has taught us so many things about our Heavenly Father. 

I'd like to leave you all with this... Adoption was never "Plan B" for us, it was never a second option, it was God's design for our life. The way we view our future and our family isn't always the same way God views it. Be obedient. Whatever that looks like in your life, according to God, do it! No excuses, be faithful. It might be scary and unpredictable. It might be emotional and time consuming. But I promise you, in the end, it's worth it. God

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 is worth it. And for an orphan child, lying in the forest, trusting that God will protect him... It's totally worth it! 

Blessings,

​Paul, Jamie & Eli