Abundant Blessings!

Our precious girl is HOME!!

Things are going so much better than we could have ever imagined. She is a dream come true. The kids love her, she is a bright light around here. Everyone is thrilled to have her home and loving on her like crazy. From what I can tell...never having done this before....she is adjusting perfectly. She is happy, she is giggling and playing and wants to be a part of everything we are doing. She is curious about everything...she loves the refrigerator that has water and ice come out of it....it is getting a good workout these days....

I will have pictures posted soon, I just had to give a quick update. We are feeling like David when he wrote this Psalm!!! Blessing are abundant around here and we are soooo thankful and feeling OVERWHELMED WITH LOVE AND BLESSING AND GIFTS from our Lord above! Psalm 21:1-7 (The Message) Psalm 21 A David Psalm 1-7Your strength, God, is the king's strength. Helped, he's hollering Hosannas. You gave him exactly what he wanted; you didn't hold back. You filled his arms with gifts; you gave him a right royal welcome. He wanted a good life; you gave it to him, and then made it a long life as a bonus. You lifted him high and bright as a cumulus cloud, then dressed him in rainbow colors. You pile blessings on him; you make him glad when you smile. Is it any wonder the king loves God? that he's sticking with the Best?

You Just Have to Laugh!

I titled this "You Just Have to Laugh" because....OF COURSE it is not going to be smooth boarding the airplane with our Treasure Esther...of course there will be problems... and OF COURSE GOD IS GOING TO BRING US THROUGH!!!! Why would anything be different TODAY???

I get a call on the way home from church, on my cell phone...from Delta Airlines and a lady with a very heavy accent says to me that the flight from Uganda has been cancelled....I'm in shock....WHAT???? So, I ask over and over because I could not understand her and my head was buzzing.....WHAT do we do????? So, I finally understand...they have cancelled the flight that the team was on, and there was another flight that was a couple of hours earlier that they would be on....WHEW. This is GOOD....and actually, I already knew the flight had changed because that had happened weeks ago, so we knew they would be leaving a few hours earlier, but somehow the airline was making calls and telling people the day OF DEPARTURE...and calling it cancelled.

So, all was well, and I went about my day as soon as my heart rate came down to a normal level....then, about an hour later, Charlie calls and he is at the ticket counter and they can not find Esther's reservation in their system, Charlie has all the paperwork, but it's not showing up in the computer. Her confirmation is NOT coming up!!!

Holy smokes.........so, I get on the phone with the ticket agent in Uganda, and ask what to do....he advises us to buy a ticket because they have room and then deal with it later....O.k. ...I say just get that girl a ticket ALL the way to REDMOND... all the way HOME!!!! I get on the phone with Delta Reservations, to make sure of what is going on and find try to find out why her ticket is not showing up and get disconnected 3 times!!! I then get through, and they can see Esther's old reservation (that I had made on the 13th of March), but they can not tell me or figure out why it is not ticketed. So, I ask if they can see her new reservation that they just made at the ticket counter because I wanted to verify that she was ticketed all the way to Redmond, they could NOT find it!!!! I'm really sick of Satan by this point!!!!

So, the agent gets a supervisor and they change her reservation and show her original reservation as ticketed to make SURE and DOUBLE sure that Esther will have a ticket all the way through to Redmond. They have no explanation as to why this happened, just can't explain it.

I talked to Charlie one last time, they had tickets, they had passports and they had made it through security!! Praise God AGAIN!!!! He just keeps walking us through, but it is taking all the perseverance and patience and FAITH we can muster up at this point!!!! God is very GOOD TO BE FAITHFUL!!!

On a VERY fun note: You should have seen me leaving the church today, you would have to stop yourself and look again, to see if you could see me behind all the GIFTS ....Esther is soooo loved and she has a closet FULL of clothes now... Our plan was to go to wal-mart and get her a few things like underwear...socks...the essentials. Our church family BLEW me away again...this girl has every essential, plus, shoes (5 pair), plus coat, plus dresses, plus hair products!!!!! Can you believe it...I don't have to even go to Wal-Mart( this alone is a huge blessing to me), and this stuff is sooo much better than Wal-mart!!! As one precious lady, Nancy gave us a "starter kit to Esther's closet", which was tons of cute and useful and warm and darling things....she was walking away from the car and Charsie says...."That lady has style too mom, Esther is going to be looking GOOD!!!" I cracked up...it is true....God not only blessed us with awesome stuff for our girl....it is STYLISH!! Only our God goes the extra mile with His people...He did not equip me with style or the gift of shopping....so He even provided THAT!!!!! BLESSINGS!!!! BLESSINGS!!! BLESSINGS!!!

It's DONE, She's OURS!

Can you hear it???? I sure can, because I'm joining in....that sound, that beautiful sound that I hope you hear, are the angels rejoicing because today...TODAY..there is officially one less orphan in the world. There is one more Brewer...(so some angels are huddled in a corner praying for us and for Esther...hehe), but the heavens are rejoicing. I have seen the mighty work of the Lord so many times I can't count, but I will be recounting and remembering and testifying for the rest of my life. This has been the MOST difficult journey, but it has been the most glorious...I have seen God SHOW up and be GLORIFIED over and over and over. I would NOT trade this experience or being a part of it for anything. I not only have a journal full of testimony and a heart full of JOY, I have a BLESSING, I have a daughter. A beautiful daughter that God has placed in our family to be loved and cared for. We set out to be a blessing, and guess what????????? WE ARE THE BLESSED ONES. This is just how the Lord works....He is MIGHTY and FAITHFUL and WONDERFUL...can you tell I'm on a high....this is what happens to me after labor too....haha, this exciting relief and high come over me. WOHOOOOO!!! Yippee Jesus.

Esther Update!

James 1:12 (New International Version, ©2011)

12 Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.


Esther update: God moved mountains is all I can say. I will give the details once Esther is home, but just know the faithfulness of God is amazing and worthy of our praise!!! Esther and the team will be coming HOME, all together on March 28 at 3:25pm....and what a celebration it will be!!!

I have so much to share, but I thought I would throw out a few fun facts that have gone on during this journey....

Our scheduled court date was EXACTLY 9 months, to the day, after Charlie and Lashae had met her and she was CONCEIVED in Charlie's heart.

The orphanage paperwork came through THE DAY it was due for the judge to rule in our favor...(this paperwork had been in the works for 16 months).

I drove from here to Banks, Oregon to get our home study picked up, THE DAY IT GOT FINISHED, so it could be hand delivered to our lawyer in Uganda, and after a wild 4hr. drive, we arrived with 1 minute to spare!!!

We had less than 48 hrs to leave once we learned when our court date was scheduled and we got the best prices on airfare EVER!!! UNHEARD OF ON LAST MIN. TKTS

We raffled off our horse trailer to raise funds for bringing Esther home, and ended up getting it back. The folks that won it, donated it back, AND they are adoptive parents themselves, AND they have 3 internationally adopted Grandchildren.

Our home study agency cancelled the night before our home visit, and said they would not be able to complete our home study..we prayed, and they changed their minds in the night and came as ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED!

Over and over the Lord has confirmed that He is in this with us, and His faithfulness has been so amazing. I have a few more fun facts, but they will have to wait until we get our girl safe and sound in our arms!

The Rest of the Team!

Here is the TEAM!!!! They are such a fun bunch. Charlie is on the far left. He is an amazing man that happens to be my husband, he LOVES the Lord passionately, He loves Africa, and he loves Esther. He is so excited for this trip and all that is holds. When I see how much Charlie loves Africa and the way it has changed his life, I know that this is what the Lord purposed for him even before he was born. He just lights up over there. He is excited to go and see all kids, to see all his friends over there and BRING OUR ESTHER HOME TO HER FOREVER FAMILY!!! Charlie is EXTRA blessed on this trip with 2 of his children joining the TEAM and then 3 of his children coming home with him.



Kole is the one in the middle. He is our 16 yr. old son. He is just the best teenager EVER. Kole is fun, Kole is focused, Kole has a heart for the Lord and when we presented the opportunity to go....HE JUMPED AT THE CHANCE. I don't know of a lot of teenage boys that would give up their Spring Break, their hard earned money, and go and serve orphans in a 3rd world country...WITH JOY!!!

Lashae is in the middle next to Kole. This is our oldest daughter, she has been walking on clouds since she found out she gets to go back to Uganda. She has a LOVE for that country and especially the children at Redeemer House. Lashae has had it in her heart to be a missionary for several years now, and I know God has placed
her right where He wants her, and she is just glowing! She will be ready to go back the second she gets home. I appreciate her so much, she is an awesome big sister to all her siblings and now she is traveling clear to Uganda to be an awesome big sister yet again, and bring her sister home.





This is a team of prayer!! They know they can do NOTHING without the Lord, and they are drawing on Him for each step of this trip. Sunday, we had a packing day and praying day with the team, and brought a few extra friends and families to join. It was fun, and this team knows how to get stuff DONE too, we had a living room full of donations that were strewn from here to yonder and they needed to be sorted, packed and weighed and they all jumped in and GOT 'ER DONE. I can't wait to see how they do in Uganda, I can guarantee there will be some stuff that gets accomplished, with prayer, and their enthusiasm and hard work.....!!!

Check out this other Blog!

I'm going to introduce the rest of the team tomorrow, and they all just happen to be MY AWESOME FAMILY!!!! Yep, there are 2 Brewer kids going to get their sister and 1 Brewer dad going to get his daughter.

But TODAY....you have to read a post from another blog that I LOVE....it is just soooo good and it speaks the heart of adoption from another family.

http://www.cookingupfaith.com/2011/03/guest-elizabeth-adoption.html

This post just blessed my heart so much.

Introducing 3 of the members of "Team Esther"!

This is an introduction to 3 of the 6 members of TEAM ESTHER. There is a group of 6 people going to get Esther and bring her home. While they are in Uganda they are going to be doing many other things as well. They have big plans to build a rocket stove for Redeemer House Orphanage, and build a basketball hoop for the kids, plant a garden, and distribute 600 lbs of awesome donations to Redeemer House and 4 other orphanages. They will also participate and help Amazima ministries which has a feeding program, that feeds hundreds of children!!

This is "Rocky"....His name is Tyler Rockwood, but we all call him Rocky. This kid is AWESOME!!! His willingness to go on the spur of a moment and go to Africa and serve orphans in pretty rough conditions is REMARKABLE!!! Most 17 year old boys would not be interested in anything less than a vacation with lots of wild adventure and being served, NOT SERVING!!! This kid is one of those amazing special guys that just seems to "GET IT" from a very young age, and realizes the world does not revolve around him and it is fun and adventurous to take your Spring Break and every dime you've ever had and go SERVE! Rocky is a kid that is compassionate and fun loving. Rocky has a pretty new relationship with the Lord, but he is solid and he is seeking the Lord daily. Rocky took a major step of faith in so many ways to even go on this trip....he did not have a passport or the funds, but he believed God wanted him to go, and he committed. He has received his passport...YIPPEE and he is still praying about the funds, but he has faith that God will provide. We are so excited for this kid and not to mention he is a close buddy to Kole and they are just going to have a roaring good time building some things for the orphanage and playing with the kids. Rocky is also very talented with his music, and you can bet Uganda is going to LOVE that.



Let me introduce you to Dani!!! Dani is the "mama" of the group. She has a heart for kids from Powell Butte to Africa. Dani also said "YES" to going on the spur of a moment. Dani just got back from another mission trip to Africa just a few short months ago. She prayed about the possibility of going and everything came together in 24 hrs.!!! I think that would be a YES from God. Dani is going to be Esther's surrogate mommy, and she will also be a "Mother Hen" to all the other kids that are going...including Lashae, Kole, and Rocky. I just prayed the Lord would provide a "Mom" that would do things like a mom would do, and would watch fro things that a mom watches for, and God came through in a big way!!! Dani will not ONLY be the "mama" of the group, but she is the Children's Church Leader at our church, so she will be Esther's teacher at church. It just doesn't get any better than that in my opinion. Dani, is a dear friend from Bible Study for many years, and she is just RADICAL for Jesus!!! This team and the children they are going to serve will be sooo blessed by her!




This is the McKinnon family! Mark is the only one from the family that is physically going to Africa this time, but as us families and wives know...the whole family is involved in the mission. When you are sending your loved ones you are sending a big part of yourself, so this whole big wonderful family is going, but Mark is the only one with a ticket this time. Mark is a man of God, he is a family man, and he is TENDER hearted for children. I'm praying for Mark because he is going to be awesome in Africa, he will love it and they will love him there, but he will also be broken hearted. The need is so great, and Mark is a man that helps and serves and loves with his whole heart, and it will be hard to not bring 2.3 million orphans home!!! Mark and Casey have a heart for adoption and it has been a seed that was planted in their hearts many years ago, and they are feeling now is the time the Lord is opening the doors and it is time to step out in faith and see just who God may have planned to become a McKinnon!!!! That will be one lucky kid is all I'm sayin'!!! Charlie is EXTRA excited to have Mark on this trip for so many reasons; he respects Mark, they are friends and they have so much in common. It will be nice to have another man on the trip, and Charlie is hoping Mark can keep up with him in the bawling department....hehe....Charlie started crying buckets of tears in Uganda last year, and the flow of tears has not stopped, he is hoping ANOTHER MAN can be a real man with him and just cry like a man.
(This is really just my take on Charlie's new tender heart........he takes his tears like a real man, and I know Mark will too.)

"Children Of God" - Official Music Video

Excellent Video!!! It helps me address a few of the questions that I know people must have...and many times, I too have questioned.

1.) How can I love Esther the same as my birth children?? For me, I don't have the same feelings I have for my birth children, but I love her the same. Love is action, and I will DO the same for Esther that I do for my birth children. I know as I get to know her more and more and spend time together our feelings will come. The more time I spend with any child the more I bond with them, I feel a connection, I understand them. Well, for Esther, I haven't had that opportunity, but I LOVE her. I will provide for her, I will be responsible for her, I will take care of her, I will do everything I can to help her, SHE IS MY CHILD and has EVERY advantage..(or disadvantage hehe) that the other Brewer children have.

2.) Don't I have enough children already??? Well.......all I can say is God placed this daughter in our hearts and in our lives and I would never tell someone that they should get rid of a child because they have too many. I believe God planned THIS even before I was born just as He knew my birth children before I was born sooooooooo, who am I to question. Yes, we did choose this, we did make the conscience choice to adopt Esther and to say YES to what we believe God wants for us and for her. Also, I'm so glad that God will ALWAYS adopt us into His family and He has NEVER said He has enough....I realize I am not God, but we are to be like Jesus and Jesus says YES, he helps EVERYONE who asks, He accepts EVERYONE who asks to be His, I can certainly help and accept and adopt.

3.) How will we afford this many children??? Only with God. He owns everything and it says in His Word that He will take care of us, so I'm just believing that. I don't pretend to understand how it's going to work because it's a struggle already. It is a faith walk everyday!! I just trust the Lord and I know He provides for things He favors and He has OBVIOUSLY favored this adoption........so day by day we are just trusting Him, and He has just come through EVERYDAY! Without fail He has provided...

Matthew 6:25-34 (New International Version, ©2011)
Do Not Worry 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

TEAM ESTHER

I can hardly wait to introduce the "TEAM" that will be going to pick Esther up and bring her home to her forever family. Of course God's purposes are sooooo much bigger and higher than ours, and I just have to say something that applies to each of the 6 people going to pick up our precious daughter.... each are amazing servants of the Lord. In each person that is going, there is a different desire and a different reason for going, but EACH ONE HAS THE SAME PURPOSE AND DESIRE as well.

That purpose and desire is to serve our mighty Lord in a MIGHTY way. The Lord placed something in each person an individual reason that just fits each personality as well. The Lord loves each of our unique personalities, gifts, and abilities and He can use ALL of it for His purpose, when we just open ourselves up and are willing to do "crazy" things at times.

It is amazing how the Lord put this team of people together in a flash, and it wouldn't fit any more perfect if we would have spent 10 years planning and organizing.

I'm in awe of the willingness to spend thousands of dollars, jump on a plane, go halfway across the world and go serve some precious little orphans. These orphans do not have a voice, but they do have God who said He is the Father to the Fatherless, and I believe He is the one who places the desire on these people's hearts as they go and BE THE HANDS AND FEET OF JESUS. The funny part is they will each go to be a BLESSING and they will end up the most BLESSED of all. It's cool how that works.

The team also has plans to visit and bless several more orphanages with a helping hand, donations and just a heart that wants to love on some of these kids.

They will also participate in Amazima Ministries feeding program. This is a ministry that feeds hundreds of children.

They will also plant a garden, and build a rocket stove and a basketball hoop for the kids at Redeemer House!!!

AND ULTIMATELY...................BRING ESTHER HOME!!!!

Those of us staying home will be spending the week preparing for her arrival!!! YAHOO!!