Where do I start?

Thank you! Thank You! Overwhelmed would be a good start! Here is what we had the privilege of carrying with us to Uganda...in addition to our personal luggage which couldn't be much. :) Oh my goodness there were and are going to be SO many children blessed because of you. 2 and 1/2 of these were filled by our friends and family and the other 1 and 1/2 were filled for /by George and Christie Magera of Ekubo Ministries. www.ekuboministries.org

We were also given money and we bought formula but when it became obvious that we couldn't take anymore formula we took the money and converted it to Uganda shillings and bought rice, beans and sugar and took them to 4 different orphanages. Food is very expensive there and it is extra hard for them to be able to buy enough food to feed the children. They all were VERY thankful. We carried formula with us but we tried to be way more invisible delivering the food.

In this first picture below, Bryan is watching them weigh the food at the store. In the last one, Bryan and Steven (our driver and friend) are trying to make a fast drop off.

Our trip was simply amazing and I have so many things to tell you and it won't all be in this post! I will tell you that I loved Uganda. From the minute we got there it just felt right. I can't wait to go back and take the kids AND we are hoping it will be soon. We only had electricity 1 day at our guesthouse and had to take cold showers but it was really fine except that by Thursday my computer wasn't charged and our phones were about out of battery too. We left most mornings before 8 and didn't get back to the room for the night until about 10:30 so we even missed the couple of hours in the evening that the generator was running. I think I am going to have to give a day by day run down .... maybe this week.

I don't have any "real" adoption news to share on my blog yet but I am asking that you please pray for our family and for our Ugandan child as we believe God is orchestrating a beautiful story.

Thank you for following our journey and for praying for us. We are truly blessed by you.

Headed to Africa ---- Need Formula

So I need to update my background to my blog from Ethiopia to Uganda. I never think about this until I log on here myself. I will add that to my list of things to do. Speaking of a list...my list has been pretty long lately. Bryan and I are headed to Uganda in less than 2 weeks! Yes it is rather soon, and since I have nothing that is needed for that trip I have been a busy bee preparing for it. Lots of shopping and document preparation.


Why? you ask. Well we are going to meet with our attorney. We really feel like we are suppose to sit across the desk from him and look him in the eye and talk to him about our documents and what is important to us. Also since we are going independent we have to do all of the research and learning for ourselves. I have had great correspondence from our attorney but the language translation has me scratching my head and pulling out a dictionary from time to time. I am sure his English is right it just doesn't translate to Texan very well sometimes. ;) I am looking very forward to being in Uganda and Bryan can't wait to go back. We do not have to make this trip it is not a requirement in this process. We do feel very confident that need to GO. We will also be visiting some babies homes and orphanages as well as a couple of ministries. We will basically be rocking babies, playing with kiddos and just serving where we are needed We will meet with directors in those places to try to share our heart with them and what God has placed on our hearts. There is a possibility that we might as a result get to meet our child(ren) while we are there. We DO NOT get to "pick" a child while we are there. That would be illegal or at least unethical and besides that we don't want to do any "picking"! We are totally wanting God to do that for us. Bryan and I are praying that we leave "our" plans here and that we are totally open and receptive to God's plan for us and that He gives us discernment for each part of the trip. I am not looking forward to leaving Cole and Averie. We NEVER leave our kids. Cole is 3 and he has only spent 2-3 nights away from us and that was with my parents! They will be with all 3 sets of our parents and some of that time will be here at our house. I am positive that it will be much harder on me than them. I am working out ways to stay in touch with them. I can tell you with ALL of my heart that there is nothing short of a direct call from my Father that would cause me to leave them to go that far.

Here is what we need from you:

1. Prayers - for safe travel, for discernment, for us to KNOW what we are suppose to do, for us to leave our agendas here and get on that airplane totally open to what God has for us!, for our children to have peace, to be safe , for our families who will be taking care of the kids, and for our health as well as the kids, and for our hearts to continue to be broken for what breaks HIS!

2. FORMULA: We have been told by numerous sources that there is such a need for formula in the orphanages and villages. It is so hard for me to understand but there are a lot of babies/toddlers that do not have any source of nutrition. It has been brought to my attention also by Christie Magera of Ekubo Ministries that works in Bugabo village that there is a HUGE need in the villages as well. If a woman who is HIV + gives birth and doesn't have formula and hasn't been on meds then she has no choice but to breastfeed, thus putting her child in danger of HIV. SOOOO we plan to take a TON for formula with us to these places. We are each allowed 100 pounds before we have to pay so we would like to give up 100 pounds for formula and would LOVE to have so much formula come in that we have to arrange to pay for another bag. So if you live local you can call or email me and I will meet you to pick up formula, if you live away and would like to ship it let me know and I will send you my address or if you would rather give money and I will do the shopping ....... ALL of this would be such a blessing. AND I know some of you might have contacts like doctors with lots of samples or you might have lots of coupons, etc that would be awesome. Just know you would be a huge blessing. We are so honored to be able to be the haulers of the formula. BUT we need to act QUICK! We don't have much time...


Matthew 25: 35-40

'For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

We are so honored to have your support and prayers during this time!

Help my friend Lara..... and possibly win an awesome camera

Hi Friends,
I wanted to share with you a special adoption shower for my friend Lara and her family. Some of her friends have put this together to help her raise the last funds needed to bring her son home. Lara is the main person, besides God of course and he used her, that my family can blame for our latest changes in direction ( I jokingly say blame..... I am forever grateful!). She has blogged about some tough stuff that has really opened my eyes. She and her husband have also been on a waitlist in Ethiopia before they started the Uganda process. AND that is not all... since we have officially moved over to Uganda she has been a HUGE support. She has helped me with almost everything....just ask her how many of my questions she has answered. LOL. Maybe soon we can carry on a 2 way conversation..... instead of a question and answer session. :)

God doesn't call everyone to adopt but He does call everyone to orphan care and here is an opportunity to help get one more child into their forever family. PLUS there is a smoking awesome camera being raffled off and you get 1 ticket for every $15 donation. Don't underestimate the power of $15, please if you feel so led go support this awesome family.

Click the link below. (In case it doesnt work, I am still learning...go to www.thefarmerswifetellsall.com



The Farmer's Wife Tells All: We Now Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Blog... ...: "If you came here today looking for a funny and inspirational post from Lara, you are out of luck...because we regret to inform you that this..."

HUGE CHANGES -----Following Him to UGANDA!!

It has been a really long time since I have posted, huh? (not that you are all sitting there waiting to know what is going on in our world) There have been 2 reasons for that. The first is a WHOLE blog post besides this one. It is called living.... 2 weeks at the lake so our floor could get fixed from the water damage, softball tournaments, Averie breaking her arm, another softball tournament (not near as fun coaching when your child is injured but we had a GREAT group of girls), and just regular life. The second reason is the main point in this post....and it has actually taken up a TON of time as well. Now that I have delayed this post until we were confident in God's leading and had the perfect words to share with you the words are still not coming out. I know, I know it is the first time I have been found to be speechless.


We have officially withdrawn from the Ethiopia adoption process, we are adopting from Uganda independantly and are open to a child older than a baby!! You see, we were suppose to be adopting from Uganda all along. That is the country that first stole our hearts. Bryan has been there on a mission trip and we have sponsored children there for almost 8 years. The truth is that we already felt terrified in following God's plan for our family to adopt period much less from Africa. Remember that I am the one who never expected to consider adoption, not the one who "always knew at some point it would happen". No I am/was the type A with a plan and comfortable with our control!! Well I (Bryan included) are here to tell you that THE ONLY plan is GOD's plan and He is in charge of everything. Uganda adoption seemed a bit scarier to us at first so we really feel like God had to take us down the road we have been on to be able to follow Him down this one. None the less we feel confident that we are where He wants us. There are huge differences and you will learn about them as we go along. I will tell you that we (as a family) have experienced the most spiritual adversity we have ever faced. I will not post the details but just know that the devil has been working overtime to keep us from hearing God speak to us about this. As we have prayed God has shown us many things including the age factor. We originally said we would only except a child 0-12 months at time of referral. We were really convicted that God did not just accept or adopt us in our purest most innocent form. AND our physical adoption really follows our spiritual adoption so we are open to a child up to Cole's age . (actually approved for 2 kids up to 6 yrs old just to leave God room to work) We truly want to see God in this. God has already put some amazing women in my path just as I have prayed and I am forever grateful to them for helping me on this journey.

So I am sure that you might have questions spinning in your head and I am going to attempt to answer them in a question and answer format. (told you about the type A personality)

Question 1 Does this mean that you have to start all the way over?

Yes we do have to prepare a different dossier, however a TON of the same stuff is needed so a lot of it can be reused. Also our home study just had to be amended (already done) and sent back to immigration for that to be changes. (mailed this week) I thought I would never have to do a dossier again, especially so soon ;) but it just doesn't seem like a big deal this time....maybe because we are doing what we are suppose to be doing.



Question 2 Are you going to lose money?

Yes the money that we already paid to Holt is lost. However we consider that a small price to pay in order to truly follow God. Also we think this adoption will not cost as much so it should kind of make up the difference. God always funds what He favors and He does favor adoption.


Question 3 Does this have anything to do with the slow downs in Ethiopia or Holt?

Absolutly not. I would tell you if it did but we had been feeling uneasy about where we were before all of the latest news. The uneasy like we are not following him and we have our own agenda uneasy. Not the this is taking too long, I can't believe all of this is happening, what are we gonna do now uneasy. Holt is a very good agency and if I ever felt called to adopt from country that you had to use an agency and Holt was there then I would use them. I feel like they do their best. Holt does have a Uganda program but they wouldn't let me open our age up like we know we are suppose to do. AND we won't let anyone or any agency dictate God's plan for us. Our money also wouldn't transfer from Ethiopia to Uganda with Holt. We are totally open to the plans God has for us in this adoption. We have set our own parameters long enough.


Question 4 What is your timeline now?

The real answer is that we really don't know. It is a very different process so we will know more in a month or so but I am hoping to have another sweet child in my house in under a year.


Question 5 Will you have to go twice?

We do not have to go twice like we did in Ethiopia. However there will still be a court appointment and then an US embassy approval process for a visa. We ( ALL 4 OF US) plan to be in country for this entire process. The Cantrell Family will be spending between 4-8 weeks in Uganda and that is assuming that everything goes well....which we of course are praying for. This question brings me to the next one.

Question 6 Is is safe for your family? (Which really means is it safe for my kids?)

Now this is Africa, it is not Canton TX or anywhere in the US. It is a 3rd world country. There are many dangers, however we obviously are doing everything we can to ensure a safe trip. BUT....the bottom line is that when GOD calls you to something it doesn't really matter if it is safe if you are committed to following Him and raising your children to follow Him. It will be an experience that they will never forget.

Question 7 How will adopting a child that is possibly older going to affect your kids? Won't they have so much more baggage than a baby?

All of this IS going to affect my kids!! However I believe that it is going to affect them in the most positive ways. They are going to get to experience the healing power of Jesus and the difference the love of a family makes. Averie and Cole are going to possibly see a child in the deepest depths of despair turning into a child that is a part of our family in every sense of the word. They are going to get to be a part of that. This is really a whole blog post in itself. They will more than likely even get to teach their sibling English!! And like I mentioned earlier WE are adopted into the family of God sometimes at our worst...so who are we to say that we will only take an orphan at his or her best. It is all in God's hands. Oh yeah, and yes they are going to have to give up more time with us but I have so many friends with 3-5 kids and no one would even consider this an issue if I were to announce that I was pregnant again.

We are so grateful for your support and prayers on this crazy journey we are on.