2015 really IS the year of the Haitian Baby!!!!

Since 2012 we have said "This is the year of the Haitian baby" meaning that this would be the year we would bring London and Sam home from Haiti. Some of those years it was speaking out of PURE FAITH, but now, 2015, we can say with assurance that this IS the year of the Haitian baby!!! We know that ANYTHING can happen in Haiti but our file has been submitted to the US Embassy in Haiti for final review. There is absolutely nothing else that we have to do except sit back, wait, and pray for the final approval and issue of the visas. Our agency estimates 8 weeks but is hoping to shave a week or two off of that. When you have waited as long as we have, this doesn't seem hard at all! When we get to FaceTime with the kids they always ask "when are you coming?" It is so exciting to know that we won't have to leave them there again. That when we go back, they will come back with us!!! SURREAL!!!

 

We have had so many people sacrificially give to us on this journey. We are so thankful. It is so amazing that God uses His people to fund what He favors. We have estimated that by the time we travel we will have spent almost $60,000 on this adoption. Trust me, we did not have that kind of money but God did. We are down to owing $2000 to our agency, $1800 care fees for London and Sam (estimated at $600 per month) and flights (two roundtrip and two oneway) and Kelcie and Greyson will be doing some fundraising for their flights because they REALLY want to go with us. Let me say that we are exhausted from the fundraising. It is our least favorite thing to do! But God is faithful and we are almost there. 

Our #adoption shirts were a HUGE success!! We sold around 160 shirts and so many people that ordered one, reordered because of the quality of the shirt! We had people ask if we could get more colors and so we decided to go for it and see what God does!!!  We are doing preorders on these shirts. You can order through the link to the Right and just let us know in the comments what size and color you would like! We are adding youth sizes this time as well!!! We will have sizes youth small through adult 3XL. Please add $2 for 2XL and 3XL, and we can ship the shirts for $5. Please share  through your social media because we have learned that is the key to success!!! We cannot thank you enough! We love you all and can't wait to introduce London and Sam to all of you!! They are going to steal your hearts just like they have ours!!!

XOXO

Tracie

The Greatest Man to Ever Live.....

Today we celebrate 91 years with my amazing papa. Unfortunately he spent his birthday getting a heart cath done. But the greatest gift of all was hearing the doctor say "There is absolutely nothing wrong with his heart. He has the heart of a 50 year old" Thats some amazing birthday news.
Pop is a WW2 Hero. He was shot 3 times and one of those was in the back of the head. Its a miracle he is alive. All my life I heard stories of the war that still haunted his sleep. He talked about dragging a hurt soldier through a valley with enemy fire shooting at him. How he never wanted to set foot on a ship again because he had to "ride that thing from Hawaii to Okinawa".

I love this man more than life itself. He and my nan practically raised my brother and I. We walked to their house everyday after school. And if it was raining I knew my pop would be waiting outside the school with an umbrella. We spent just about every spring break camping and fishing with them. Spending the days swimming and fishing and the evenings playing rummy and laughing. They made sure we had whatever needed or wanted. When Nan got sick my pop went to the nursing home every single day to feed her lunch. He adored her. Sure they had their ups and downs, who doesn't? But they loved each other deeply. They couldn't have children of their own so they took in 5 of their nieces and nephews and raised them as their own. One of them being my mom who they brought home from the hospital. When they loved you, they loved you deep.

I was somewhat of a surprise for my parents. Not exactly planned, but God had a plan. And part of that plan unveiled when I was around 3 months old. Easter Sunday and it was my baby dedication. On that day my papa made the decision to serve the Lord and he never turned back.  One of my favorite memories is when I was in the first grade. We had a tornado warning and all of us were lined in the hallway in the typical position with our head between our knees. I was 6 years old and scared to death and I heard a voice calling my name down the hall. When I looked up my papa was there to rescue me. He grabbed my hand and took me home. My protector. My hero.

Its hard to see him frail and sometimes confused. Its devastating to imagine the day that he passes from this earth to Heaven. But I can say that he gave me the best years of his life. He has loved me unconditionally and I have returned that love. Everyone needs someone like this in their life. Someone that you know will always be there for you no matter what. I'm a better person for having him in my life. I wish that I could just freeze time and that he wouldn't get another minute older and that his health would sustain him, but I know when that day comes he has a great reward awaiting him and I am convinced that my Nan is going to meet him at the gate and be ready to take him fishing!! What a reunion that will be.

Guess Who Has a New Last Name?

I am so excited to introduce you to Samuel Christian Ward and London Elizabeth-Joy Ward!!!

I know that they have been Ward's in our heart for 3 years now but its pretty exciting to know that they are "legally" Ward's now!! We have seen some great movement in our adoption these past few months and KNOW that GOD has done it. After 2.5 years of NO MOVE whatsoever, this has just been a miracle!

Its so exciting that we can start getting their room together and knowing that they will be in it!! The next trip we make to Haiti we will get to bring them back with us and its hard for me to even wrap my brain around that!! We've decided to design a T-shirt that, with your support, we will be able to sell and raise the money we need to get them on a plane! Our great friends from Generations Church, Travis and Mel Dummond, graciously donated shirts for us so we are making 100% profit on them! That is such a huge blessing to us! The shirt design that we came up with not only directly supports London and Sam but will help raise awareness for adoption. There are over 147 million orphans worldwide, over 1 million of them reside in Haiti alone and over 150,000 eligible for adoption in the United States. As Christians, we are all called to do something! (James 1:27)

The Price of the shirts is $20 and we can ship them to you for $2. You have all done so much for us during this process and we will make sure that London and Sam know that you all played such a huge part in getting them home! We would greatly appreciate if you could help us share about these shirts! Please help us get the word out on social media by directing people to our blog or sending us a message!! We have a big goal and know with God's help that we will meet it! You can order by clicking the link on the sidebar of the blog or just sending me an email or message on facebook!!
Cant wait for you all to see our Christmas card this year!!! :)

xoxo

Transitions and Updates!!

"There's No Place Like Home" is a pretty funny thing for me to say to anyone that knows me. You see, I am terrified of the movie The Wizard of Oz. Yes I know its a classic and yes I know I'm 38 years old and yes I know that flying monkeys are not real... Nonetheless, I don't watch the movie. At all. My kids find it hilarious actually. So imagine my reaction when God called us to move to Kansas. Really. Like yellow brick road Kansas. My only experience of Kansas was traveling to towns where there really wasn't anything. And while I love rural America and envision myself with a farm, pretty much any type of miniature livestock animal I can think of and those super cool chickens that look like fraggles, I really need to be close to "town". But what is so amazing about God's calling is that He places you where you need to be and you absolutely LOVE it. That's how I feel about Kansas. So the whole "there's no place like home" I totally get now!

In December, Kelly had the honor of becoming the lead pastor at Generations Church! Its amazing and we love it so much. Everyone has been so welcoming our our brood and after just a couple of months it truly feels like home. I have never adjusted so quickly to a new place. Those of you that know me, realize how much of a feet this is! :) Its such a good feeling to know that we are rooted and planted and this is our forever home. We have a great house and the kids are loving school! In January, we got the news from Haiti that we had been waiting over two years to hear. Our file had finally been released from IBESR and approved to move forward. We were able to travel there and visit London and Sam and file some very important papers that will help in getting them home soon. We just have a couple of more steps to go and will be able to go to Haiti and actually bring them back with us! We are so excited and London and Sam are excited too!! They have gotten so big and are so smart. We had a great time with them.

So there is a bit of an update on this crew. Thanks so much for your support and prayers in this very long journey. Even though its been one of the hardest things I have every gone through I am so thankful that God has allowed us to walk this road. We have seen His hand every step of the way and when London and Sam step off that plane in the great USA we can say "God did this" and He gets all the glory for that!!!

The Fog.....

Have you ever felt like you were in a fog? Like walking through the same thing every single day and it almost feels as if you are walking in slow motion? For example, I get up, take the first child to school (since his school starts at the CRACK of dawn) come home, get the next two ready and take them to school and then come back and get the littles ready and take them to their Moms Morning Out program. I have the next 4 hours to run all of the errands, clean, grocery shop, etc etc etc and then in the blink of the eye its time for a mad dash of picking up 5 kids at 4 different places. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE MY LIFE. I LOVE being a MOM more than ANYTHING.... I know that one of these days all of them will be grown and independent and I won't be shuttling them around in a sweet "Swag Wagon" like I do now.  But still, I've been in a fog....

We have been in Charleston for almost a year. WOW. almost a WHOLE YEAR.. There were days I didn't think I would survive... Some days now I don't think I will survive. But I have.  We all have. Making a move across the country is a HUGE experience. Huge. Leaving everything you have known and loved and starting all over. Seeing the kids have to forge through unknown territory and make brand new friends is hard and it can leave a tremendous weight of guilt on this mama. I can still tear up thinking about it. Its still hard to walk in Kelcie's room and see the wall of pictures reminding us of everything we left behind. Its tough stuff, y'all. Moving this far away from home for me has been a journey and I'm still walking it. Who wouldn't want to live here? Seriously, Charleston has to be the most beautiful city I have ever been to. Historic charm, amazing food, temperatures are perfect (I am a little jealous of the fire pit pictures I keep seeing Oklahoma friends), people here are SO FRIENDLY... (with the exception of the people that don't understand the 4 way stop by the church. Seriously people) Kids are for the most part so respectful with the Yes ma'ams and no ma'ams.  But in December, I seriously feel like the high I was on dropped me like a bad habit and I found the Fog. Or rather it found me and it consumed me. I had a really hard time adjusting. I would cry every single day. It wasn't because things here were bad. You seriously could not ask for a better church than Faith. It has everything you could ask for. But when the reality of the move set in and I thought I wasn't going to be home for Christmas (I did make the trip with my 5 kiddos.. yep all by myself. I pretty much rocked that trip...) I broke. My husband, God bless him,  was left looking at the shambles and broken fragments of what was left of his usually strong and outspoken wife.  I found that I was not only dealing with the move but other things in my life that I hadn't dealt with. For instance, the death of our twins. It has been 6 years and I seriously thought I had dealt with those emotions but nope, they came back in rare form with me even feeling guilty for moving away from where they are buried. Lots of self discovery has been going on here.

So whats the point?  I'm realizing more and more that the fog is lifting. I'm learning that each day is a precious gift. Each time I get to lay down at night with Mayah and Carrson because they can't possibly sleep unless I stay in their rooms until they fall asleep, is a gift. God has a plan and a purpose for MY life. I am CHOSEN. I am LOVED. And I can LOVE. I can find my place because my place is in HIM. So sweet mama that might be reading this. Don't let the fog overtake you. Fight back. Start a new journey of self discovery. Take it one day at a time because the Lord knows thats what I'm having to do. One sweet step at a time. The fog does lift and when it does there is a beautiful ray of sunshine that will beam down on your face and in the face of those little ones that you are pretty sure are going to suck the life right out of you.  You are tougher than you realize. Hang in there...

xoxo

Sweet Summer!!

It is officially Summer in South Carolina..... Ok its been summer for a while now, I'm just now getting around to blogging!! Things have been in FULL SPEED for our circus!!
 LOTS of visits to the BEACH!!!
A visit from Nana and Papa along with Uncle David and Cousin Ben coming to hang out!
Big kids involved in an awesome intern program at the church where they are getting to serve at some really cool places!
Littles enjoying Mom's Morning Out!
Mom enjoying the Littles enjoying Mom's Morning out!
Con-man going to church camp!
Tubing the Cooper River and seeing lots of GATORS!!
Watching Kelly dive off the tube in the Cooper River!
A visit from my very special Owasso friends and Lots of site seeing!!
An upcoming visit to Arkansas and Oklahoma!
An upcoming visit from some of our most favorite Oklahomans!! (the Howell's YAY!!!)

So things have been super busy and fun lately but we are enjoying every minute together! Counting down the time until our two Haiti babies can join our family and just loving our life! Please continue to pray for our adoption! Although things are moving a little slower right now than we want we know things are moving and our kids are coming home! Please pray that God will prepare their hearts to join our family. They are leaving everything they have ever known and I know that will be hard and take some adjustment. We always look forward to our monthly Skype dates and listening to them sing "Head Shoulders Knees and toes" to us!

Hope you are having a great summer and enjoying each day with your family!!
xoxo
Tracie

The rest of the story…..

I have heard that the gestation of a mama elephant is over two years. I am the elephant. (no fat jokes please!!!!) Adoption took root in my heart when I was a little girl. Maybe because my mom was adopted, I'm not for sure, but it really started to grow after my second child was born. It consumed me. I KNEW I had heard from the Lord and that our family should adopt so when I so excitedly called my precious husband to tell him of this plan and got a resounding "NO", I was stunned. But not enough to give up! :)

I'm very persistent y'all!!

YEARS later after begging, posting pictures of orphans, scriptures, and PRAYING, he felt the time was right. We went down several paths and some of them ended in brick walls. We were actually matched with a birth mom and she ended up doing something different. Then, we went to Haiti….Oh Haiti, how you rocked my world. Our world.  We met two precious babies. A brother and sister in a creche in Montrouis, Haiti. We.fell.inlove.  We went into this with MUCH prayer. Our hearts had been broken and we wanted to be sure we were doing what GOD wanted us to do. We received that confirmation. We KNOW that God spoke to us and that these were our children.

We had done LOTS of research on the particular agency and creche that we planned on using for this adoption. We had followed up on references, met them in person, all the stuff you should do. We both felt at peace. We started the process. We received donations from many of you! (Words can't express our thanks!!!) We were told in the beginning it would be 12 months or less to bring these two home. We waited and waited and waited. Supposedly STUCK on the "Presidents Desk" awaiting something called dispensation. We had biological children so we had to get a special waiver from the President of Haiti to adopt these kids. We became friends with the director and founder of the agency and creche. We loved her. We supported her. But somewhere along the way (about August of last year) RED flags were going up all over the place. I was embarrassed to say anything because we had already heard things from people like "Well maybe its not God's will for you to adopt… what about all the money you already spent…" So quietly we started asking questions and finding out things that we NEVER wanted to find out. Things like misappropriation of funding, starving children, birth parents being told that their children were in "boarding school" and that the children were never intended to be adopted. It led us to hiring a private investigator to  determine the orphan status of our beloved children. He had to search the mountains of Haiti to find their biological parents. God granted us a miracle and he found them in two days. This led to the biological parents removing the kids from the creche and staying with them for over a week. We then were able to get the kids into a new creche and hire a new agency to try to salvage our adoption. We were told we may have to start all over or even worse may not get our kids. Thats a lot for this mama to handle considering these kids KNOW us as mama and papa. They KNOW their siblings names. They WANT to come to America. After waiting and waiting and waiting, we were given permission from the government of Haiti to proceed with our adoption without starting all over. (Thank you GOD)

I am so happy to say that we are back on track with our adoption!!! Like we are really going to bring them home!!! Quite possibly they will be spending their first Christmas in America this year (Hopefully their first Halloween!)

Because of the switch in agencies and corruption of the other agency (lots of investigations  going on here) we have to come up with $8500 to complete this adoption, not counting the $600 a month in support for the kids. I have started selling makeup to help with this (www.youniqueproducts.com/tracieward) and our kids school is doing a walkathon to help with the costs. The walkathon is on April 4. If you would like to sponsor  Greyson or Conner you can send a check made out to Faith Christian School. You can message me for the address. We have a payment of $6100 due on April 15. We need a miracle. Please pray about it and feel free to share this blog on social media. God moves through his people and He has confirmed it over and over that we are doing right by these children. HIS children. If you just want to make a donation but can't in time for the walkathon you can make a tax deductible donation to Village to Village International on our behalf using this link!
http://www.villagetovillageintl.com/the-ward-family-family-79.php

Our family is fulfilling a call that God has placed on our life. Thank you for being a part of bringing us all together!!!!
 And for some serious cuteness here….