Great news to share!

We have continued to experience God's love through your prayers, notes, and encouragement during this time of grieving for the loss of Bethel. The Lord is healing our hearts and we are thankful.

We also have some great news to share! We have accepted a referral for a beautiful 11-week-old little girl. She is healthy and looks like a teddy bear waiting for a squeeze. While Bethel will never be replaced in our hearts, we are thankful for the opportunity to welcome another child into our family. And we are especially thankful that we did not have to wait too long, so our little man's wait is kept as short as possible.

Looking forward, the courts (are supposed to) reopen in Ethiopia next week. First, our agency will have to submit paperwork to have our current file withdrawn (we were in line for a court date at the end of November). Then we will have to refile with the information on the new baby girl, and then wait for a new court date. It is unknown exactly how long this process will take but we expect our agency to be ready to do what they can as soon as possible. However, there will also be lots of families filing for court dates next week, as the paperwork with agencies has been building during the two-month court closure.

We appreciate your continued prayers for the court process, our children waiting on us, our healing, and trusting in the Lord as we wait. While the journey has definitely been difficult, we are thankful that we can also experience joy and blessing in the midst of it and we cannot wait for what God still has in store for our family.

For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself. -- Acts 2:39

THANK YOU !!! ... and now back to the waiting...

We cannot put into words how thankful we are for all the love and support we have received from each of you through your prayers, cards, flowers, kind messages in many forms, and general encouragement through this difficult time. Surely the Lord has sustained us and showered us with His love through you.

We had a wonderful service for Bethel on Sunday, September 5th. It was a blessing to be surrounded by so many people who loved our daughter. It is impossible to list each person's specific contributions, but we want to give a special thanks to Lee-Anne Fenwick for coordinating the service, Brad Frame for leading the service, Angie Pryor for playing piano, the Browns for being willing to share their thoughts on sweet Bethel, Paul Yerrick for doing the music (with an assist from Aunt Sherry), Julie Gould for making the video and the picture card, Dr. Moore for taking time out of his busy schedule to speak, and everyone who helped with the service and the reception. You guys were awesome!

We also want to update you about our little man who is still waiting (and probably blissfully unaware of all of the recent heartache). We had a court date for both children for Nov. 23, but we will not be able to keep it due to the change with Bethel. When the courts open at the end of this month we will first have to submit some paperwork to close our file and then reapply once the first process is completed. This brings with it a new set of unknowns - and more waiting - as our agency is unsure how long this process will take, especially when the courts will probably be inundated with paperwork that has been building during the closure. This is hard news since we now know that we won't have our boy home before Christmas. However, the ache of waiting is softened a little by great reports about him. Each family from our agency who's visited him says he's happy, healthy, and sweet. More families will be visiting him in October and November so we hope to continue to get some new pictures and more good reports. Please pray for our little guy as he waits for us and we wait for him.

Bethel Memorial Service Video

Memorial Service

for Bethel Shannonhouse

Dr. Russell Moore will be Giving a Message on

Sunday, September 5th - 5:00 PM

The Chapel at Southeast Christian
Reception to Follow in the Fireside Room
Children are welcome to attend.

Please park in LOT C From the main entrance off Blakenbaker, it's the small lot on the right. Enter at Door 16.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD's favor has come, and with it, the day of God's anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair. For the LORD has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory. --Psalm 61:1-3

A post we were hoping not to make...

On Tuesday afternoon we received a rather grave report on Bethel's health. She got sick and became critical very quickly. We held out hope and prayed for a miracle, but unfortunately we are saddened to tell you that we were informed this morning that Bethel did not make it through the night. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers over Bethel and for our family. Our kids took the news pretty well and we are feeling the love from all of our family and friends. We believe Bethel was brought into our lives and hearts - and yours - for a reason. We don't fully understand that reason right now but trust that the Lord is already at work to bring good from this tragedy. We will be having a service for Bethel and provide details soon.