My journey for faith...

As with many times in life, when God calls you to do something he often takes you on the road less traveled. My journey is no different. A little over eight years ago I married my soul mate. From the first moment we met, I knew he was "the one”. We married almost one year to the day we met. I was always shy, introverted and followed the crowd. Everyone who knows Travis, knows that he is the exact opposite. God knew exactly what he was doing when he placed this man into my small little world.

As you might know, over the next few years, my faith was tested to the very core of my being. I found myself continuing to ask God, "why me?" Then we had our little miracle, Adelynn. God was true to his promises. Psalm 37:4 had finally come true; "Delight yourself in the Lord and he shall give you the desires of your heart."  A little over a year later, I found myself in the pit again. I questioned God and my journey. I felt as if I had been stripped to the bone. I grieved the loss of never being able to bear another child in my womb. I cried out to God and I never heard an answer. The silence was deafening.

Since then, we have continued to trust God and move forward with our calling to adopt. I found myself hopeful. I bought "Choosing to SEE" by Marybeth Chapman. I came to realize that we are a lot alike. We both like plans and control. But neither of these allow room for God's grace or the miracles of God. I too believe that as Marybeth says, "none of my tears have been wasted". God has chosen to change me on my journey. He has redeemed me at a great cost. My husband could not fix me and I came to realize that this was way too heavy to carry on my own. I had to give complete control to Him and let Him use this pain in my life. Psalm 126:5 says, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy". As I look back on the past eight years, there have been a lot of tears. There has also been a lot of joy. I am married to the man of my dreams who loves God and through that he loves me. He leads our family and loves Adelynn beyond anything I could have ever dreamed or hoped for. God continues to be faithful.

In 13 days we will meet two little boys. We will become their "forever family."  Most days my joy overtakes me. This journey has been hard. But, as Marybeth says, "I can do hard."  Did I want to? No, absolutely not! Would my life be different had I not chosen to trust Him and walk this path? Yes. He has chosen me for such a time as this. God's destiny for my life was bigger than I would have allowed him to be. The naive 22 year old - small town girl - would never have dreamed this big. My faith in God and His presence in my life has grown from a knowledge of His love to experiencing it first-hand. I have been face to face with God. He is still working Himself out in me and my journey is not nearly over.

I am thankful He never gave up on me and for bringing me on this journey for faith. Clearly, He always knew the desire of my heart to have children.  I just never knew how I would get them. What an honor to walk this road and seek my children out just as Christ did for us.  Again, we are all but orphans he sought out by His love. 

Matthew 17:20 "Because you have so little faith, I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."  Praise the Lord my mountain has been moved. I can walk forward in His marvelous light and share my victorious journey for faith, being thankful for my miracles.

still waiting....

Hello friends! Sorry for the delay, but it has been a busy few months.  Adelynn and I braved a trip half way around the world (ALONE!), and we made it.  It was an awesome adventure to say the least!  We arrived back in the states on April 28 and stayed until July 9. Travis was able to join us toward the end of our visit by taking 21 days of leave from work.  We took advantage of childcare and we went on a much needed vacation to Cancun, Mexico.  We enjoyed every minute of it!

Now, we are back in Japan and back to reality and all that God has called us to do.  We are currently focusing on our adoption process, so please continue to left us up in prayer as we seek the will of God.  We have been in contact with our caseworker, however, she has no news for us yet.  So, now we wait... We pray daily for God's will and provision and that He would provide a child (or children) to join our family.  Please join us in that prayer.  Time is an issue, because we have until December for a child to be placed in our home, due to the lengthy legal proceedings .  If a child is placed after December, we will not be in Japan long enough to finalize custody, birth certificates, passports etc.  We are still hopeful and excited to adopt here, if not, then we will start over when we return to the states.  We having a calling to adopt children, only God knows where they are.  So we are still trusting His timing and plan.

After all, we were orphans and God found us and called us His own......

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you"
John 14:18 ESV

"God sets the lonely in families"
Psalm 68:6

Allison


 

Approved!

Once again we find ourselves humbly amazed with God's confirmation and presence in our lives. Today we found out that we were approved as ISSJ's prospective adoptive parents! WOW! Praise the Lord! Now, we wait...
I can not explain the heaviness I have for our child(ren).  I feel their need for me so powerfully.  I am sure it is my motherly instinct. I think about them all day.   I am reminded today of God's love for us.  How delighted he must be when we come home to him.  We may be born fatherless but God is here to adopt us.  To give us life, love and a family.  Recently I read "Choosing to See" by Mary Beth Chapman and she describes how God spoke to her about his love for orphans as she was struggling to understand how she could love a child that wasn't hers. Here is what God revealed to her,
"Mary Beth, you thickheaded woman, do you not understand now that this is the very way I see you? You are this orphan! I adopted you and you are MINE!  I bought you for a price! Do you see how you love this baby? That's just a faint reflection of how much I love you! You didn't have a name, and I gave you a name.  You did nothing to deserve my love, and I love you anyway.  You had no hope, no future, and now you are the daughter of a King! "
We are delighted that we are one step closer.  Continue to pray for us as we wait and that a child will be placed soon!

Allison

Another step closer

Tomorrow at 1:00 pm (Japan time)we will pick up Miyu, our caseworker for ISSJ (International Social Service Japan). We will bring her to our home and start our 2 day home study. Another step closer to bringing another member into our family. I ask that you pray for us. Pray that God's presence will reign and the Peace of God will dwell in Travis, myself and Adelynn. I have been preparing Addy for this weekend and through this whole process we have talked to her about adoption and giving a life to a child who doesn't have a mommy and daddy. I have a peace that Addy will bond with this child(ren) immediately. She is such a loving child and was given to us when there was no hope. I truly believe that God will use her even at this young age. Once again, we find ourselves on our knees asking God to have His way. We are humbled at this opportunity. I pray for our future child(ren) and I think of where they may be, and that He would guard their hearts, encourage them and protect them.

After the home study Miyu will put our entire file together (references, biographies, home study results etc) and make one last evaluation. She will take all of our information and bring it before the ISSJ board one last time. They will then decide if they want us to be prospective adoptive parents on their waiting list. This result could take another month. We are praying for the board and they will have clarity to make this decision. We know and fully trust that God is present and moving in our situation. We feel Him so powerfully.

Lastly, I want to thank everyone who prayed for Travis while he was deployed. He returned last Friday Feb. 24th from Thailand. God is working mightily through him and this ministry of the Naval chaplaincy. What a ministry and opportunity!

"Do not be afraid for I am with you, I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west"

Isaiah 43:5

Allison

Letting go...

As I write this Travis is deployed.  I find myself 7,000 miles away from my family.  It's just me and Addy.  It's during these moments that I truly see God.  I see His hand.  I know that I am not alone.  The enemy is out to seek, kill and destroy.  But God is on my side.  My mind tends to wonder and goes places that I do not want to go.  I start to doubt my safety, my calling and why we are here.  But God in His still soft voice draws me toward Him and all my fears release.  I have a peace.  A peace that only He can bring.
 Many of you know our story of having Adelynn.  Our word we use so commonly with her is, "Miracle".  As I look back at our journey of conceiving her I am brought to tears.  I remember the hurt, I can feel the pain.  But this time 2 years ago it was all erased.  I had just had my HCG  labs redrawn and it was confirmed, we were pregnant!! God had provided.  He had given me the desires of my heart.  It took patience and a lot of tears but that didn't matter anymore, I was pregnant.
I was talking to my mom today and she told me about a song, "miracle of the moment"by Steven Curtis Chapman.  As I listened I recalled the past few years.  Our struggles and our triumphs.  The words of this song were so true.  I have felt God telling me the past few months, let it go.  The words of this song echo those words.


It’s time for letting go
All of our if only’s
‘Cause we don’t have a time machine
And even if we did
Would we really want to use it?
Would we really want to go change everything?
‘Cause we are who and where and what we are for now
And this is the only moment we can do anything about

I felt God whispering to me, "would you change anything?".  This past year has been difficult for me.  I have lost my last two grandparents, moved to a new country and lost what I thought was my most valuable possession.  Endometriosis finally took my ability to have more children.  It was the most difficult decision I have ever made.  I felt such loss and heartbreak.  But God is in the restoring business.  I am proud to say that through this hysterectomy I am a new person.  My dad preached a sermon the week before my surgery that I refused to hear completely, until now. I know God gave this to him.  It was based from the passage in Mark 14:3.  What is your most valuable possession?  I gave God my most valuable possession on June 9, 2011.  Or, what I thought was most valuable.  I poured  out my sorrow and my disappointment.  I am proud to say today that God has filled my alabaster box once again.  I am renewed.  God has taken all of that hurt and pain and replaced it with hope.  So, thank you daddy for preaching a sermon that is still being heard today.  Thank you mama, for sharing this song with me.  I love and miss you both more than you know.  

Yesterday we received the news that all of our paperwork for our adoption had been submitted.  I am working with our caseworker to make plans for her to come to our house for a home study.  I will share more information with you in the coming months.  Please join us in prayer for our future child(ren). God brings us full circle and I will have more children!  

Allison

What A Year!

The purpose of this blog is to keep all of our faithful friends and family up to date on The Coffey House.  God has richly blessed us with such an amazing support system.  As we trust in God on this journey, it is our hope that you may be encouraged to see that He is truly one you can trust in too.  This blog will give details about Travis' life as a Navy chaplain and my life as a Navy spouse, as we both strive to serve the people that God puts in our paths.

As of January 3rd, Travis has been serving as an active duty Naval officer for one year. But, we started  this new journey in 2005 when Travis felt the call into the military chaplaincy.  At that time Travis was serving as a  youth pastor at New Covenant Church in Middletown, Ohio. The next year we left Ohio and headed southbound to Morganton, NC.  Travis had been accepted into a Master of Divinity program at Gardner-Webb University and would start his first semester in the fall of 2006.  While studying at GWU the Lord blessed us with the wonderful opportunity to serve at Drexel First Baptist Church.  For 4 years Travis worked as a full-time student and an associate pastor until he graduated from seminary in May of 2010.  That summer Travis decided to put in his application to the United States Navy Chaplaincy Recruiting Office.  After lots of paperwork and interviews, Travis submitted his application packet and was invited to come to Washington, DC and attend the CARE (Chaplaincy Selection Committee) board interview at the Pentagon December 7, 2010.

Travis flew back home to Drexel that day and where we waited and waited, expecting an answer and divine confirmation.    Finally, later that week we received the call and Travis had been selected to be commissioned as a Naval officer.  He was to report January 3, 2011 in Newport Rhode Island.  He had less than 3 weeks to resign his position at our church and pack out his office and board a plane to ODS (officer development school) for 5 weeks.   We spent those few weeks enjoying the holidays with our families.  Soon after that Travis heard from our detailer where he had assigned us our very first duty station.  Travis called me at work and told me we were moving to Iwakuni Japan.  I said "I-wa-what?".  So, our Christmas was bittersweet because we all knew that we wouldn't be together next year.  He graduated from ODS on February 5 and boarded another plane bound for Fort Jackson, South Carolina where he would attend Chaplaincy school for 7 weeks.

I was so excited.  This opportunity meant that I would be able to stay at home with Adelynn.  My last day of work at Grace Hospital was January 7, 2011.  I jumped head first into the military world.  Since we were moving overseas, our household shipment would take 6-8 weeks to arrive.  So, to guarantee that our shipment would make it we were "packed out" (military term for moving company packing your entire home in 3 days) on Feb 24th.  This meant that while Travis was in training in SC, I was supervising our home and watching everything we owned being loaded into crates. Afterwards, Adelynn and I went to my parents house to live until he graduated from the Naval Chaplaincy School and Center in March.

Our PCS (permanent change of station) was originally supposed to be April 6th.  But, the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March pushed us back.  In fact, for weeks we were not even sure that we would still be able to go to Japan.  The three of us lived together in a hotel on base at Fort Jackson, SC after Travis graduated from chaplaincy school.  We then learned that Travis had been approved to report to Japan but dependents were not approved yet.  So, Adelynn and myself went to live with my parents, again.  We stayed there for 12 more weeks until we got approved and ready to travel.  Travis was able to come back to the states for a training conference around the same time as our travel date, so we all traveled together and arrived in Japan on July 28th.  Finally, we were all together, in our new home and in our new ministry.

The last five months here have been life changing.  Not only have I moved away from everything and everyone that I know, but, I have also entered the new world of the military.  I have been overwhelmed with their love and acceptance for one another.  My military family is like none other.  We are all over here serving our country in our own ways.  While our spouses wear the uniform, we are keeping our children and home together.  We rely on each other to keep us strong and to keep the faith.  My view of life is much bigger and involves a lot more trust.  Japan is truly a beautiful country and you will never meet more friendly people.  The Japanese culture is fascinating and we explore every chance we get.  

This entry is only a taste of our journey.  We invite you to come and experience with us this life we call the "Navy Chaplaincy".  God is opening doors for us here.  He is at work with the Marines and Sailors and families here with MAG 12 and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.

Allison