What's Going On With the Spangenthal Family

I thought I'd give this blogging thing a try as a way to journal what is going on in our lives right now.  We've been in the Tampa area almost a year now and are really liking Florida.  Bill is enjoying his job as the TRANSCOM Liason to CENTCOM and SOCOM.  He's gotten to do extensive traveling in the Middle East with his boss and has gotten to see and do some really amazing things.  The kids are finishing up their school year this week and really looking forward to summer break.  I love having them home so I'm looking forward to them being out also.  Around here you never run out of things to do.  (i.e. swimming, biking, beaches, etc...)  We love it and feel continually blessed to live in another great place with great people. 

One of the biggest reasons I wanted to start a family blog was to keep all our friends and family updated on a very exciting thing that God is doing in our family right now.  We are in the process of ADOPTING a baby!!!  We've had friends over the years adopt and add these precious children to their families and it was such a blessing to us to see how God used their faithfullness.  Bill and I have always had a heart for missions and been involved in ministries that care for orphans or families that need assistance financially.  We've always been aware of the many verses in the Bible that talk about caring for the orphans and widows but it wasn't until this last year that the verses started becoming very personal.  One family in particular started their process of bringing home 2 boys from China a little over a year ago and following my friend's blog from the time they announced that they were adopting until they actually were able to travel to China and get them was a life changing event for all of us.  Not for just Bill and I but also for the kids. Through her blog, I was also able to follow other families that were traveling with them to get their children.  God used one of those families (or should I say their son) to touch our hearts and change us and move us to begin praying about if this was what God's will was for our family.  I'll write more about that at another time.

After much thought and prayer, we decided that this was something that we HAD to do.  We had reached that point of.... Head Knowledge Meets Heart Knowledge.  We couldn't turn our backs on the little ones all around the world that need loving Christian homes.     The statistics are staggering...there are over 143 Million orphans in the world. 

Once we had decided that we were supposed to do this we put in our application with our adoption agency in mid-March.  Since Bill was having to leave for a school for a while, we got busy doing paperwork and our home study.  It's amazing how God works.  We were able to accomplish everything we needed to before Bill left.  And.....as of 2 weeks ago...our agency called and said that they had a child's file that matched our application.  Sometimes families wait months after completing their home studies before they find their child.

When we viewed his file we knew he was meant for our family.  Right now he's 10 months old.  At this point, we have no idea when we will be able to go get him.  We are officially in the paperchasing stage.  I think it could be 5-6 months from now but really...what do I know.  This is my first time doing this.  All I know is that every day I look at his sweet pictures I fall deeper in love with him.  My heart aches knowing that we have so long to wait.  I'll share pictures when I can. 

Well- everyone should be pretty much caught up on us now.  We appreciate any prayers lifted up for us and our little guy in China. 

Also- please bare with me as I develop our blog.  I know absolutely nothing about building a blog page.