We're expecting!

We will be growing our family through adoption! And we are so excited!  

This is something that has been on our hearts since before we were married, something that we’ve always known was God’s plan for our family, but something that we just didn’t know the timeline for. When we first got married, we said we’d wait five years to have kids. Well, after year one, we said five years still sounded good. J So five years from the latest conversation was the plan…then came Moses! After four years of marriage, God blessed us with the most amazing baby boy in His perfect timing. And now that Moses is getting older, we’re ready to add in some more!

We recently finished seven weeks of training with an agency named Boys Town. They have been wonderful in preparing us for this adventure! We’ve learned about how to best care for these kids who have been neglected, abused, and so much more. We’ve learned CPR and First Aid. We’ve learned how to deal with the difficult situations that will arise (as confidently as the best training can prepare you for…) And we’re learning how God can grow your heart so big to love children who don’t yet share your last name.

Soon (within a month or so) we will become licensed foster/adopt parents, meaning that we’ll receive foster placements with the intention of adopting them. Yes, that was plural! In short, the way that it works is that you provide your agency with some parameters and they call you when they receive children that fit within those (or close enough). We’re open to two boys, brothers, around the ages of 5-9. We wholeheartedly believe that God has already chosen our babies and they are waiting for us. Waiting for us to have our health and safety inspections, waiting for us to complete our home study and interviews, and waiting for us to prepare a place for them. 

Just as we prepared a place for Moses, we are preparing our home for these young boys. Our third bedroom has become “the boys’ room”. But instead of a crib and changing table, we’ve set out for beds, desks, and dressers, along with all the other essentials that our older boys will need. We’re also fulfilling checklists for our inspections and purchasing things like medicine lock boxes and a fire extinguisher. And when we get a call from Boys Town offering us a placement, we may have only a few hours or a few days to gather the rest of the age-appropriate items – clothing, shoes, school supplies, and toys.

With this exciting announcement comes a plea… we ask that you would join us on this journey with great joy and expectancy just as you would as if there was a little one growing on the inside. Just as you did when we were there around two years ago with Moses. J We also ask for your prayers. Prayers that God would continue to grow us – as a couple and as parents. Prayers for the ones that God has chosen to be part of our family – that their hearts would be ready for love and healing. Prayers of protection over all of our hearts and our home. We trust and know that God’s hand will be over every detail of our journey. (If you’d like to know more specifics on how to pray for us through this process, let us know and we’d be glad to share!)

We are so excited to be growing our family and can’t wait for the day that we get to see their faces! Thank you for your love and prayers!

Happy Forth of July!

Happy Independence Day!  Hope you enjoy your day with family and friends!  

Sunny Saturday

What a fun day we had today!

Frankie went to a training for the THRUproject.  It's an organization that pairs up advisers with youth that have aged out of the foster program.  Advisers commit to a year with the program and the youth that is placed with them and keep in contact with the youth for support and accountability.  It is a pretty cool idea and the only organization doing it in the state.

After that we all headed down to get some free fish!  Woot Woot!!  

And just for fun we decided to do some shopping and found a new rug for our laundry room, and candle, and a sign that Taylor thought was awesome!

Nap time for Mose while we drove up to the mall for some more exploring of shops...

We found a candy store... Lolly and Pop

Checked out the new H&M... Moses found something he liked!

and then took some time for a dance break :)

Quick stop at a resale kids shop for some serious discounts, but left because Dad got a little overwhelmed.  He came home and took it out on our very overgrown backyard.  

So like I said, we had a fun day!  And we blogged about it!  Maybe this will be the start of something great... baby steps first.   

Lots going on!  We will keep you posted.   

Dedication and Service

A few Sundays ago we got to stand up in front of our church and dedicate our sweet Baby Mo with all three Grandmas, both Grandpas, two uncles, both aunts, and a lot of friends.  :)

Dedication!

Before we went insinde to share our Moses with the church we spent some time in the parking lot sharing our time for the city.  Children's Hunger Fund and Oak Hills Church partnered up for pack 10,000 Food Paks!  Each of the campuses of OHC received truck loads of food and boxes and packed and packed and packed.  By the end of the weekend we has 10,101 Food Paks ready to service the city of San Antonio.  It was a great time to serve with the church, friends, and family!

We are the Body of Christ

Called to be Jesus

In every Neighborhood

In our City and Beyond!

Service!

We think it's pretty fitting that the day Moses was born we got to share with him about how he was able to help so many with clean water.  And now on the day he was dedicated we can share in what a blessing CHF is to the spiritually and physically hungry in our city and around the world.  :)

Water Project Update: It is finished! - Dziwanidziwani, Malawi

Dear Friends,

We are overjoyed to share with you this exciting news!  After many, many, (many!) months of waiting, we are finally so glad to share with you that the hard work has paid off! The report is in and the details of our collaborative water project have been revealed! Together we have changed the lives of 432 precious people in Dziwanidziwani, Malawi!  Amazing! It is because of your generous hearts and selfless efforts- fundraising, gift-forgoing, donating; and by the abundant blessings of our Father that this was possible! So many readers, friends, family, and strangers came together to make sure that we could make an impact in helping end the water crisis around the world.  This letter is for each of YOU, because you are a part of something big!

"That change has now been realized, and thanks to you, the people of Dziwanidziwani no longer have to drink water that makes them sick."  These are words that we have been waiting to hear and that this beautiful woman has dreamed about!  This photo encompasses the end of sickness, thirst, disease, and the beginning of hope for this community.  

Thanks again to each and every one of you for all your wonderful help!  This mission is truly complete thanks to you.  Thank you Father for allowing us all to be a part of your beatiful, redemptive work in Africa. And thank you charity:water for making it real, for proving every dollar so that the impact is made visible! 432 people will thrive and grow in a way that was not possible before.  Visit the site of the well and take a look at the village by using the GPS Coordinates -16.13883, 34.88326.   

This project may be over, but in the month it was completed, our son Moses was born and finished his fundraising for his very own water project.  We are excited to celebrate his life with the promise of clean water for others.  As a new feature charity:water, takes projects that do not complete a full project amount and merges them into one project in order to share the information once completed.  We are excited that he will be able to see what others did for him in love when he recieves GPS coordinates of the project he was a part of.

Glory to God. What a blessing to see others be blessed!

To see some of the ways we raised the funds for this well visit "Water Jar" on the left side topics bar of our blog.  

Baby Rodriguez's First Water Project

Hello readers! We know it's been awhile, and much needs updating, but for now we have baby news! We have been in love with our little noodle since we found out we were expecting in March!

And since we found out whether this little goober is a boy or a girl we've been raising money for him/her to fund clean water projects from the very beginning of his/her existence! (Don'tcha wanna know?!) Family and friends have been so supportive with their donations and its been super sneaky to keep it a secret, but oh so fun!

So the original plan was to fund a well by baby's due date. Now we know that this is a big goal but our God has proven his mightiness to help us realize our big goals in his name. However, with few further plans for projects to raise money and baby's arrival quickly approaching, we decided it would be best to put little cootie's donations to use rather than let them sit for now.

We've decided to launch a mycharity:water campaign. These campaigns last three months - exactly the amount of time from today (8/11) that baby is expected to be here (11/11)! To start it off, all of the donations collected so far will go straight in as well as our garage sale fundriaser efforts from July! And here's your chance to join in! Our goal is $1,111 which will help bring clean drinking water to 11 families in need! Baby R you are already making a difference in this world!

Look out for ways to participate over the next three months as we work to meet our goal! Or if you still want to find out the big boy/girl question, just make a donation and let us know you wanna know on the blog, on Facebook, or through email! Visit baby's campaign page at http://mycharitywater.org/baby-rodriguez!

Here we go third trimester! We are so excited for November! :)

Happy Fourth!

Today we are hanging out at Mom and Dad's.  

Brady and Sloane drove down from Austin.  

Friends showed  up, neighbors are on the way.  

Hot dogs, ribs, and fireworks are on the agenda! 

(Notice anything different about Taylor?)

Happy Independence Day Friends!