MyersMilestones

A Frenzy of Firsts

2010-06-10T23:07:00.002-05:00

Tonight I am taking a break from the daily grind to update you on some of the "firsts" that Samuel has enjoyed. On April 30th, Samuel's cousins from his daddy's side of the family came to visit him for the first time.

On May 1st, Samuel enjoyed his first trip to the St. Louis Zoo with his Uncle Nick, Aunt Katie and 3 cousins.

On May 2nd, Samuel enjoyed his first trip to church where he was welcomed by so many people.

On May 3rd, Samuel had his first trip to his doctor's office. He liked some of the visit, definitely DID NOT LIKE having his blood drawn. It took 2 different visits with 3 adults to hold him down for a combined 1 hour and 30 minutes as 3 different lab technicians attempted to draw his blood with only one lab technician succeeding both times.

On May 11th, Samuel was visited by his first friend from the U.S., Judd the Bud

On May 14th, Samuel went out to eat with his daddy and mommy for the first time at Bully's BBQ.

On May 15th, Samuel met Grandpa and Grandma Myers for the first time.

Here is a picture of 3 generations of Myers.

On May 28th, Samuel received his first haircut.

On May 29th, Samuel met Grandpa and Grandma Boyd for the first time.

On May 31st, Samuel went to his first parade. It was so cute watching our new U.S. citizen waving the American flag!

On June 3rd, Samuel encountered his first dog. His name was Skittles.

On June 5th, Samuel took his first road trip to Louisville, KY to visit his friends Joel and Lee-Anne.

Here he is with his friend Lee-Anne and her daughter that they adopted from China.

On June 6th, Samuel had a blast celebrating adoption for the first time with six other children in Louisville, KY

It was at the celebration where he went swimming for the first time and LOVED it. He swam in the pool for 1 hour and 30 minutes with Daddy and a friend who was adopted from China.

On June 7th, Samuel took his first trip with our youth group to Six Flags, St. Louis.

He rode his first few amusement park rides. The first one was the S.S. Feathersword Play Ship

Then he rode Daffy Duck's Hot Air Balloons.

He liked swimming with Daddy and Mommy in the kiddie pool at Hurricane Harbor.

After swimming he rode on the SFSTL Railroad.

And he finished his day off with a fun ride on the Ferris Wheel.

Next week Samuel will take his first mission trip with our youth group to Shepherds Ministries in Wisconsin.

The Cost of Adoption...Are We Really Considering the Cost?

2010-05-05T14:32:00.000-05:00

This is an extremely powerful article that was given to me and I pray that it will impact your life! It was written by Jeremy R. Haskins, however, I took liberty in changing the passages of Scripture used at the end of the article. I believe that the verses in James are more appropriate and applicable for us than the passage Jeremy chose. Enjoy!

Last night an older gentlemen at church cornered me and asked, “How much does it cost to adopt from Ethiopia?” When I answered the question, the man looked as if he would literally pass out. He then acted amazed that anyone could actually do it.

I began thinking about the reality that no one acts so shocked when they find out how much we pay for our cars and houses. And yet, the cost of an adoption is a cost for which we have no context to consider.

It’s true that one of the very first questions folks have to ask when considering adoption is, “How much does it cost?” The issue of finances is probably the biggest obstacle families face when adopting. Most families will spend the majority of the process raising funds, while trying to figure out how to pay pressing fees. Obviously, families who want to adopt will have to consider the financial cost. But, is there a far greater cost we are all failing to consider?

The sad reality is that there are many couples choosing not to adopt because they feel the money just isn’t available. There are others who are refusing to help support them because it feels irrelevant, even when it comes to the enterprise of kingdom investments. Meanwhile, we all seem to be thinking hard about how to squeeze enough money out of our monthly budgets for fast food and new cell phone apps.

When it comes to caring for orphaned children around the world, the cost is far greater than anything we could ever imagine. Whether you are the face of love for a child without a family or you help give so some else can be, the issue is not the money. The issue is obeying Jesus. The cost is one of ignoring Him and His brothers and sisters who presently languish in abandonment. (James 1:27 and James 4:17)

Asked of God

2010-04-30T16:10:00.000-05:00

We named our son SAMUEL because of the Biblical meaning of the name..."ASKED OF GOD." (1 Samuel 1:1-20) We prayed for 9 years 4 months and 18 days for a child and God answered our prayers with a beautiful son. Samuel is God's child and we desire to raise him to love, worship and serve the Lord (1 Samuel 1:26-28).

Zàijiàn Taiwan

2010-04-29T17:05:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday night, April 27th, we said our final goodbye to Chad, Cole, Alicia, Caitlyn and Allyson Edwards. We were so thankful for them opening their home to us and showing their city to us. We love you and miss you and look forward to the day we can all go to a Cardinals game together!

We flew out of Taiwan on Eva Air at 11:55 PM. We recommend this airline to anyone traveling to the far east.

Samuel slept for 9 1/2 hours in this bassinet on the flight to Los Angeles.

Samuel got his first stamp in his passport on this trip home!

It was such a special moment to walk out the door of the LAX airport and stand on American soil with our son for the first time.

We were really, really tired. We had a four hour layover in LAX. I slept with Samuel on the floor of the airport.

We were thrilled to reach our final leg of the journey home...Dallas/Fort Worth to St. Louis.

We were greeted by several church family and friends at the St. Louis airport. They even had a welcome sign for us at our home! Thank you again to everyone who made this day extra special for us!

We went for a brief walk around our neighborhood with Samuel and introduced him to some of our neighbors.

To end this tiring, but wonderful day, we had devotions together before going to bed.

We loved our trip to Taiwan and all the experiences that came with it, but like Dorthy said, "There's no place like home...there's no place like home."

A Tremendous Tuesday in Taipei

2010-04-28T21:49:00.000-05:00

On April 27th, Jen Jen and Janet took us to some more sights in Taipei. First stop was a delicious lunch at Genghis Khan Mongolian BBQ. Samuel enjoyed his first taxi ride to the restaurant.

After enjoying great food and fellowship, we took another taxi to the National Palace Museum in Taipei. http://www.npm.gov.tw/en/home.htm

Samuel enjoyed a free stroller ride through the crowded museum. I think the tourists in the museum spent more time observing Samuel instead of the beautiful jade, ivory and wood carvings.

After the museum, we took another taxi to the Miramar Ferris Wheel in Taiwan. We enjoyed a 25 minute ride seeing the great city of Taipei from above.

Samuel enjoyed his first merry-go-round ride with Mommy and Jen Jen here, too.

This was a fun-filled, action-packed day. It sure did wear our little boy out. He fell asleep in his Mommy's arms walking through the Subway to our train ride back to the apartment.

At the apartment, we said our final goodbyes to our great friends, Jen Jen and Janet. We love you both. We miss you! Thank you for all the love you gave to Samuel these last eight months and for everything you did to make our trip to the great country of Taiwan extra special!

Bittersweet

2010-04-26T21:27:00.000-05:00

Today was a bittersweet day. We had to say goodbye to some of the most wonderful Christians that we have met, Ted and Bev Skiles.

We love them very much. We are very thankful for them and their staff pouring the love of Jesus into our son these last eight months. We miss them already and will never forget them. Thank you Shr Baba and Shr Mama for everything!

We arrived to Chad and Alicia Edwards home in Taipei. They are church planing missionaries in Taipei. They are from the St. Louis area so there was an instant connection. They are a wonderful family doing great work for Jesus in Taiwan!

Chad and Alicia took us to Taipei 101, the second tallest building in the world.

We went all the way to the top in the world's fastest elevator and thoroughly enjoyed breathtaking views of Taipei.

Afterward, they took us to Lung-Shan Temple. It was extremely sad seeing so many people worshipping and praying to dead gods made of stone, clay, and wood. We praised the Lord for His grace in enabling us to see the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As we walked through the temple, I proclaimed out loud Philippians 2:5-11 and Acts 17:24. (We left Samuel outside the temple with Jen Jen and Janet. We did not want to expose his eyes to this spiritual blindness.)

We then proceeded to the CKS Memorial and watched the changing of the guard.

We enjoyed spending some quality time in the courtyard with Samuel and our friends.

At night, Steven, Janet and Jen Jen treated us to some delicious Chinese food in Taipei.

We dearly miss our loved ones back at the Home of God's Love, but we really enjoyed our time with friends in Taipei. We're so glad to be a part of the family of God! Thank you, Lord for saving our souls!

Our Final Days at The Home

2010-04-25T00:32:00.000-05:00

On Saturday and Sunday we just hung around the Home and enjoyed our time with Samuel and friends. It was very hard to say goodbye to a dear friend and sister in Christ, Showhwa. She poured her life into our son for the last 8 months. We love her so much! We will never forget her.

After Showhwa left we spent some time playing together inside and outside the Home.

Mommy did a good job coordinating our outfits for a nice family picture on the porch swing.

At night, I was able to play guitar and lead the English speaking volunteers in worship. We sang "Forever," "Blessed Be Your Name," "Take My Life," "Revelation Song" and "How Great is our God."

I also was given the privilege of preaching a message from Isaiah 45 on the sovereignty of God. I shared with them about our 9 (+) year journey to Samuel from a miscarriage to infertility to adoption. I told them of three truths about God that we clung to and found our hope and strength in.
1. God is in control!
2. God is in control of all!
     A. People
     B. Time
     C. Peace and Calamity
     D. Creation
3. God is in control of all for His glory!

On Sunday morning, we joined the older children and Taiwanese workers for church. This was our first church service together as a family. A very special moment for us!

We sang great hymns of the faith with them. Samuel especially liked "Onward Christian Soldiers." He about ripped that song out of the hymnal to enjoy! :)

I was able to preach to them the same message I preached to the English speaking volunteers. Ted translated for me.

After church, we took a walk to the lake where Daddy and Samuel enjoyed watching some ducks and fish up close!

Our First Date as Parents

2010-04-24T00:22:00.001-05:00

On Friday, April 23, Ted took us to Taroko Gorge, one of the seven wonders in Asia.

It was a full day of sight seeing so we left Samuel back at the Home. This trip would have worn him out and thrown him off schedule. We took an hour train ride to Hualien.

It was such a pretty ride. We saw the Pacific Ocean on our trip.

When we arrived, Ted picked us up some lunch. The fruit here is out-of-this-world. We will definitely miss it!

Ted showed us a church that began inside a cave.

During WWII, the believers invited the mountain people inside this cave to hear the good news of Jesus Christ. These believers suffered severe persecution, yet the church grew. Here is what their building looks like now.

Ted took us to the Eternal Spring Shrine in Taroko Gorge for lunch. What a beautiful backdrop for us to enjoy a great meal.

After lunch, Ted drove us 10 miles through God's incredible creation. Here are a few pictures that do not do justice to what our eyes enjoyed.

Our trip through the Gorge ended at Tien-Hsiang. Ted took us to a church building that has an adjoining hostel that his family used for their family vacations. The flowers there were beautiful!

We truly enjoyed our date. We often thought of the verse Psalm 8:4, "What is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?" This was a great day, but we aren't going to lie...we were excited to get back on the train and hurry to the Home to see our son!

Coming to America

2010-04-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

(From Samuel's perspective) Today my daddy got up early to go to Taipei with Shr Baba Ted to get my visa. I was so excited that I could eat it.

After Daddy got back to the Home, he took a long nap. I was way too excited so I woke him up so that we could go celebrate.

To celebrate, we took a walk around a nearby lake. It was beautiful.

I sure love my mommy and daddy. They are so much fun.

At the end of our walk it started to rain. At first, I didn't like the rain, but then Mommy picked me up out of the stroller and danced with me in the rain. Now that was fun!!! I love spending time with daddy and mommy in Taiwan, but now that I have my visa, I look forward to coming to America in five days.

AIT Appointment

2010-04-21T17:04:00.002-05:00

Today was Samuel's visa appointment in Taipei at the AIT office. On our trip, we had a great time getting to know Ted and his ministry. He is such a Godly man and one of the most generous people we know. He's extremely funny, too! Samuel was quite the entertainer in the AIT waiting room. He was giving all those in the waiting room BIG smiles and giggles. The more they oohed and ahhed...the more he hammed it up. We praise God that everything went well! Lord willing, we should have Samuel's visa tomorrow.

Samuel is REALLY, REALLY, REALLY excited about getting his visa!!!

Daddy is excited, too!

Have you ever heard the phrase "It's a Small World"?! In the AIT waiting room we met a couple who were adopting an 8 1/2 month old boy. They were getting him from a different Christian orphanage on the island. Guess where they were from? ST. LOUIS! We exchanged contact information so that we can meet up with them back home. This was just another little way that God magnified Himself to us on this journey.

After the AIT appointment, we went to a handicraft mart and purchased a few things to give to Samuel on our future "gotcha day" celebrations.

Ted treated us to some great foods and drinks in Taipei and showed us around Luodong, too. In the afternoon, we were greeted by a dear friend and sister in Christ, Jen Jen, back at the home. She loves Samuel and he loves her. It was so much fun watching them play together!

At night, Ted took us to Luodong's night market. A great experience! It was a very full day filled with lots and lots of fun and memories.

Bonding Time

2010-04-19T22:49:00.000-05:00

(From Samuel's perspective) This morning my daddy fed me a big breakfast. I ate it all! After I got cleaned up, my mommy gave me as many kisses as I could ever dream of getting. I love my mommy. My parents took me for a stroll to the lake nearby the home. I enjoyed seeing new people, places and things. We saw fishes, doggies, ducks and a fountain in the lake. My daddy sure is fun. He makes me laugh. I love him, too! I can't wait for more fun with my parents tomorrow. Bye Bye!

FINALLY!

2010-04-19T00:20:00.000-05:00

After 9 years, 4 months and 18 days of praying and waiting...we are FINALLY with our son, Samuel in Taiwan! God is GOOD all the time...ALL the time God is good!!!

HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD!!!!!

2010-04-17T04:44:00.000-05:00

Leaving the States a family of 2...returning a family of 3!!!!! Chris Tomlin wrote this about the greatness of God, "Age to age He stands and time is in His hands...Beginning and the End." We know that God in His sovereignty had this day planned for us. Chris Tomlin added to his song saying, "He's the name above all names, He is worthy of my praise and my heart will sing how great is our God." With our growing family, we hope to continue to proclaim His name and sing praises of His greatness! Thank you to everyone for all your love, prayers and support throughout these last 9+ years. We love you!

The Last Night of Peace and Quiet in Our Home for Awhile

2010-04-16T20:34:00.000-05:00

A thought that has come to my mind tonight as I am making last minute preparations for our trip to Samuel is..."This will be the last night of 'silence' in my home. Some parents would be glad to give us their "noise" that they deal with on a daily basis...but more than likely they haven't waited like we have for over nine years to have "noise" in our home. I look forward to hearing "Daddy" and hearing my wife being called "Mommy." I look forward to hearing that infectious giggle. I look forward to hearing that little voice pray with me. Of course there is going to be some crying, but I hope to even cherish that "noise." Yes...I'm going to enjoy this "silence" tonight...but I'm going to enjoy the "noise" even more.

Just How Big Can Our God Get?!?!

2010-04-15T20:55:00.000-05:00

The LORD continues to magnify Himself to us. This morning Kristen received a phone call from a close friend who is an elementary school teacher. Her friend teaches 3rd grade at a school in Alton where Kristen frequently substitute teaches. Her friend asked, "Can you stop by the school today at 12:15?" Kristen said, "Sure," and proceeded to ask questions. Finally her friend quipped..."Do you want to ask questions or do you want to be surprised?" Kristen said, "I want to be surprised." The teachers at this elementary school gave Kristen a very generous monetary gift to help with expenses, a great book for Samuel, and a card that everyone signed. Later this afternoon, two other couples from our church gave us cards and monetary gifts for our trip! GOD IS OUR GREAT PROVIDER!!!!! He has faithfully met all of our needs, and we know He will continue to do so in the future. What a blessing it is to have friends who are used by Him to care for the needs of others.

Give Me a Ticket for an Airplane...

2010-04-08T19:31:00.002-05:00

It's official...we fly out of the STL on Saturday morning, April 17th and Lord willing, return with our son on Wednesday morning, April 28th. Thank you all for praying!

The E-mail of all E-mails!

2010-04-08T17:45:00.000-05:00

This morning Ted sent us a message saying..."We have Samuel’s final paper from the judge in hand as of today and I just called the American Institute in Taiwan and Lord willing, they can give you a visa interview appointment on April 21st." Hallelujah! PRAISE THE LORD!! Samuel...mommy and daddy are coming!

Court Date

2010-04-08T17:36:00.001-05:00

On March 24th, 2010 there was a court hearing in Taiwan for us to be able to adopt Samuel. Ted told us that it went very well. Samuel's guardians all agreed to give him to us without a protest!!! What can we do but thank the Lord!

Grace, Grace, God's Amazing, Wonderful Grace

2010-04-08T17:35:00.001-05:00

On March 7th, 2010, I was excited to go to church. I was super excited to teach God's Word to our Sr. High class. I stopped at Schnucks to buy our teenagers some doughnuts. We had a great class learning about wise strategic maneuvers to follow in order to say "no" to sin, Satan and self and "yes" to God.

After class, I led congregational singing. Our songs this morning focused our heart's attention on God's grace. We sang about "Grace Greater Than Our Sin." We sang about God's "Amazing Grace." We sang about being redeemed "By His Grace" and being cleansed by His blood. We sang about the "Wonderful Grace of Jesus."

After singing, I slipped out the back door and ran upstairs to my office really quick. I needed to get something to give to a member after church. As I was coming back down the stairs, one of security personnel said, "Pastor Mike...someone just told me that you are needed in the front." After hearing this news, my adrenaline is pumping. I'm thinking to myself, "Oh my, we have a security issue in our church. Someone needs some counseling or help." I began to walk very swiftly to the foyer of our church. The usher stopped me and said, "They need you up front." I said, "The platform? What for?" I change directions and go back into the auditorium through the door I previously exited and everyone cheered (I guess Pastor Burman was stalling). Pastor Burman asked Kristen to come up to the platform and join me. And he proceeded to inform us that our church had been secretly taking up a special love offering for us to help with some of our adoption expenses. Our church family gave us a monetary gift that is enough to cover our airfare to Taiwan and back. This was an incredible blessing! A total surprise! A tremendous testimony of God's AMAZING, WONDERFUL, GRACE!

We love the Lord! We love that He put us into the ministry! What a privilege it is to serve such a loving group of God's people at Brown Street Baptist Church in Alton, IL. We love each and every person in our church from the bottom of our hearts! Words cannot express what an honor it is for us to serve in an adoption friendly church! Thank you to each one in our church for being obedient to God's Word in James 1:26-27! We can't wait to share Samuel with you! We pray that God will richly bless each of you for your gift, your faithfulness in your love, prayers and support!

The Call

2010-04-08T16:47:00.003-05:00

On Oct. 9th, 2009 at 10:00 PM, Ted announced to us that our son, Samuel Louis, was born on Aug. 21st, 2009 In Taiwan. He weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was nearly 19 inches long. We heard Samuel "coo" on the phone. WOW! To God be ALL the glory! We have been praying for a child for almost 9 years and GOD ANSWERS PRAYER! Never give up on God! We were sooooo excited that we didn't fall asleep until 1:30 AM. Before falling asleep, we prayed for Samuel's salvation! We prayed that he would give his life to Christ and do great things for God! We didn't sleep very well that night because we woke up at 6:30 AM still "wired" with joy!

What Adoption Means to Us

2010-04-08T16:41:00.003-05:00

We were married almost 11 years ago. As newlyweds, our desire and plan was to have a baby after two years of marriage, a second baby after two more years, and a third baby after two years. When the first child did not come, we decided to undergo tests and fertility treatments with the goal of being able to have at least one biological child. After exhausting our fertility options and still not bearing a child, we sensed God might have a different plan in mind for us. We still had a strong desire to have a child, so we began to pursue the possibility of adoption. For us, adoption was simply the means for achieving our life-long dream of being parents. It would give us the opportunity to raise a child, to love and care for them, to teach them of God and His love for them, to watch them learn and grow. It would give us the privilege of knowing what it feels like to have a small hand in our hand, to be asked hundreds of curious questions, to receive a kiss from tiny wet lips, to hear the words, "I love you Mommy and Daddy."

Now that we are in the process of adopting a baby boy from Taiwan, adoption continues to be the means for the fulfillment of our desire and dream of being parents. However, God has been teaching us that adoption means far more than that!

First, adoption is a tremendous opportunity to more fully understand God's adoption of us and to imitate Him. We, as believers, were predestined by God before creation to be adopted by Him (Eph. 1:4-8), which was made possible for us through the death of Jesus Christ. When we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, we became sons and heirs of God (Gal. 4:4-7). In a sense, we will be able to exemplify God in being a "father to the fatherless (Ps. 68:5) and adopting our baby boy, making him our son with all of the rights, privileges, and obligations of sonship.

Second, adoption is a great way for us to be obedient to God and to care for neglected children. God commands us in James 1:27 to "visit" or look after orphans in their distress". We believe that one of the best ways to look after and care for an orphan is to adopt them.

Third, adoption gives us the chance to display the gospel in action and to share the gospel with others. God visited us in our affliction and brokenness and sent Christ to meet our every need. We were once hopeless in our sins, but now we have hope through Christ (Eph. 2:12-13). As we consider what God has done for us, we count it a responsibility and privilege to enter an orphan's affliction and brokenness and heal the void by God's grace. In the future, when people ask us questions about about our son or about adoption, we will have a springboard in which to share the gospel.

Finally, adoption is an incredible discipleship tool for us and for our son. God has been using this whole adoption process in our lives to mature us, to stretch us, to increase our faith, to grow in dependence on Him. He will continue to sanctify us as parents. We also will have the tremendous responsibility of teaching the gospel to our son and discipling him.

Lord-willing, in another month or two we will travel to Taiwan to officially adopt our son and receive him into our family. We thank God for this awesome privilege and opportunity! Without a doubt, God will continue to teach us so much more about adoption.

In conclusion, we would like to challenge you, as believers, to carefully consider adoption. Perhaps God is calling you to adopt a child. Maybe He is prompting you to pray for and give financially so that more Christian couples will be able to adopt children. Remember, you have been adopted by your Heavenly Father; there is a great need for children around the world to be adopted; and believers have the responsibility to care for those in need (James 1:27).