Twice Adopted

The Week of February 20, 2013 will forever live in our memories. On Wednesday, February 20, 2013, Tabitha's adoption was finalized. It was a great day to make legal the bonds that had already been made. After shopping for the perfect outfit along with pedicures and manicures, our crew made it the George Edgecomb Courthouse in Tampa at 11:00 am on Wednesday morning. Mom, Dad, Gigi, Papouli, Mammaw, Auntie K, Maddox, and Jojo joined T in Judge Essrig's court room. The finalization was quick but so sweet. As the lawyer asked us the questions of why we wanted to adopt T, Mal choked up with tears and could only shake her head in affirmation. T eagerly affirmed that she wanted to be adopted. Once the judge declared us legally her parents and our child. T jumped from the chair to cheer in joy. It was so simple, but forever changing our lives. The bailiff and judge were even in tears. It was so evident that Tabitha was eager to be a part of our forever family.

We had lunch at the Red Elephant Cafe with the family and headed back to our normal life as it had been for the past three months. On Thursday evening, Mallory was studying with Tabitha her weekly Bible lesson with her for Friday's Bible test. T looks right at Mal and says "I've decided something... I'm ready ask Jesus into my heart. When can I take care of that?" Kev and Mal sat at the table with T and talked about the decision to trust Christ. She knew it all. She basically told us how to be saved. :) She bowed her head at the kitchen table and asked Jesus to be her Lord and Savior. She immediately called almost every family member along with her Jojo and youth leader to tell them about her decision. When one of the many people on the phone asked if she felt any different, she replied " I just feel happier." :)

What a wonderful, blessed picture of God's love for us. He rescued, redeemed, and restored Tabitha physically, emotionally, and spiritually. She was twice adopted this week. The safety of her physical new family gave her the strength to take the step of faith to join her TRULY FOREVER FAMILY of eternity.

It's amazing to us how God perfectly ordered the steps of our lives. We had just studied the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch in church. She knew exactly that after she got saved that she wanted to tell others and get baptized. She wanted to do it immediately, so this Sunday evening, Kevin was able to baptize her to show the world a picture of God's cleansing of her heart. With the wonders of modern technology, her Auntie K and Uncle Mitch were able to watch in real time through Face Time. The entire Facebook world saw through video just a few minutes later.

She's come home this week with stories of how she has shared with her friends about salvation and God's love. Our little soul winner already! Rescued, Redeemed, Restored....

God's love is so miraculous. Only God could have planned such a perfect family and events.

Saturday night, we had a "Gotcha" Party at Buca di Beppo's with 25 friends and family. Her Grammie painted a portrait of her that she was able to open at the party along with a ring from her family with her new name. A perfect night to celebrate her two times adopted. :)

Ephesians 1:4-7
For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.

 

Count Down to Finalization

It's been a busy 60 days in the Everitt home since Christmas time. It was made complete with a weekend meeting of her Everitt Grandparents. She even got to show off her swimming skills to her Mom-mom. After the holidays, we're adjusting into our family groove. Basketball games, cheerleading practices, dance classes, homework, projects, middle school drama, family dinner, life lessons, reading before bed, and night time prayers have all become a part of our daily routine.

Mal went out out of town to chaperone the 8th grade trip to Washington, D.C. for a week.  Kevin and T had the week to themselves. It wasn't without some tears of missing mom, but it was a good opportunity to learn that Mom and Dad keep their word and always return home. Kev took good care of her. She didn't starve, go without clothes, or be at a loss of fun. Mallory came home to a clean house, too. Gold stars for Dad all the way around.  :)

Tuesday marks the 90th day that T's been in our home. We have a finalization court date set for Wednesday, February 20. Please pray that everything goes according to plan and the paper work is sent through to keep the finalization on track. Tabitha thrilled to make every thing "final." In her words, I want to be an "Montgomery-Alexander-Kuhn-Everitt" :) We're keeping it short to Tabitha Rae Everitt.

Finalization court date is February 20th at 11 am in Judge Essrig's court room and T's Finalization/"Gotcha" dinner is at Buca di Beppo in Brandon at 5:00 pm on Saturday, February 23rd. Our friends and family are all welcome to attend and celebrate with us. Please RSVP through the Evite link here: Tabitha's "Gotcha" Dinner.

We will post pictures of the finalization later on, but in the meantime, enjoy some pictures of the past 60 days!!!

Father to the fatherless, defender of widows-
this is God, whose dwelling is holy.
God places the lonely in families;
he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.
But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
Psalm 68:5-6

Merry Christmas

Christmas was a big success for the Everitts. This was Tabitha's first experience with all of our Christmas traditions. We kicked off the weekend with Mammaw's Christmas party on Friday before Christmas. Then on Christmas Eve, our family spent the evening in Clearwater at the Christmas Eve church service at Skycrest with Kamden, Mitch, and Maddox and had dinner with them afterward. Tabitha's energy was through the roof. She could hardly contain the excitement in her. She was up, down, right, left, and every direction a 12 year old could possibly go.

She was able to open one present on Christmas Eve before Santa came. It was her Christmas pajamas. Before bed, the only request she had was to read the "Night Before Christmas." We told her that she could not come out of her room in the morning until we came to get her. We didn't want to miss out on her expression in the morning. We got up around 7 am and she was not awake. We waited until about 8:15 am and then woke her up. She had a hard time falling asleep the night before due to the anticipation, but when she did finally sleep, she slept hard.

Santa didn't disappoint. She got just about everything she asked for. It took her a while to recognize her "big" gift. But when she did see the iPod Touch, it was hugs all around to make sure everyone knew her joy. It has been her constant companion (within mom and dad's guidelines) for the past 24 hours.

The day continued on with presents a Gigi and Papouli's, Mammaw's, and then back at our house with presents from the PA Everitts. She was tuckered out by the end of the day and slept in this morning until almost 9 am. This a first for her... she is an early riser.

Today, we've spent the day opening and playing with presents. We've completed our post-Christmas purge. She was able to clean out her closet and drawers to make room for her new clothes, shoes, and toys. This was a first for her as she has never had so many things that she didn't have room to store it all. It was a great opportunity to teach her about giving to those who are less fortunate. Many of her clothes and toys are going back to help those who do not have the blessings that she now does. It was amazing to see her face, because she used to be the girl that got the hand-me downs from the abundantly blessed children. Now the roles are reversed in her favor.

As we put her to bed last night, we talked about the responsibility God has given us to raise her. It's awesome to realize that we only have 6 years to instill 18 years of life lessons. We only have a third of her childhood left. We talked about this with her and she said to us.... you can teach me three lessons each night before I go to bed and that way by the time I turn 18 I'll be all caught up. :) Oh, if it were only that simple, sweet girl.

As this update is being typed, we're in the process of filling in the missing gaps of her childhood. She is working with Gigi in her Easy Bake oven. While this is a gift that a 6 or 7 year old may request for Christmas, this is what Tabitha requested as a 12 year old girl. We happily fulfilled the request and are now making the memories that she missed out on. When she was 6 or 7, she was probably just trying to survive and make it to the next day. It's our prayer that she can have the next 6 years filled with little worry or care and be able to be the child she needs to be.

We still have lots of work as a family to do, but God is good. His blessings are new every morning.

Counting down the days until finalization! Hoping to get a court date after the new year to determine our finalization date.

Keep praying, Prayer Warriors!

3 weeks as a family!

Tomorrow will be our three week family anniversary! Needless to say, it's been the biggest three weeks of transition in our life. Tabitha is a champ. She has taken everything in stride. Her life has been full of transitions, so this is nothing new to her.

She started school at Ruskin Christian the Monday after Thanksgiving. She loves it there. She has made fast friends with everyone including her cousin, Micaiah. She is a bundle of energy and hops, skips, jumps, and runs everywhere she goes. She is also cheering on the JV Cher squad as well as practicing with the girls' basketball team. Her smile lights up when she gets to go to Wednesday night church with CORE (the middle school youth group). She is just a genuinely happy kid. After knowing what she has gone through, we are amazed at how happy and positive she is.

Of course, there are little things that we're working on, but little T is eager to please. We're sure it's just the honeymoon phase, and she'll jump into normal middle school mode soon enough. For now, we enjoy this sweet family time.

Every night, we read and pray together before bed. It's a great time for us to talk and bond. A part of our reading the other night was about how God uses hard times in our life for His glory. Tabitha said that she had hard times in her life, but she knew God had a purpose for it and now she has this wonderful family. (Insert melting heart). The best is hearing her in the shower besides it sounding like world war 3 just exploded in there... We get to hear endless singing and cheering in there. Some songs she evens make up like last week's was "daddy is awesome and mommy is pretty cool too!"

This past weekend we took her to Disney for her first trip. It was like she was five years old and full of excitement. As we went throughout the weekend, she kept saying "this is the best family experience ever!" Great memories were made, and it was super special for the entire family

We're very grateful for our friends and family who have stepped in and helped love on T in various ways from hanging out with her, doing homework, hugging, coaching, and caring. It means so much so her and she is overwhelmed with her new life. We don't know what the future holds for this special girl, but God has big plans.

Pray for us tomorrow. We have a court hearing to review her case and hopefully get some tentative plans set for adoption finalization in the spring.

Ps. Christmas cards are being sent out this week!