Where we've been on this journey so far....

I couldn't have said it better myself. These last couple of weeks have been hard, to say the least.


www.nomtwords.blogspot.com

click on the entry titled, Holding the Hand of a Stranger


P.S. I can't figure out how to make the above a link right to his blog, but right now I just don't care.

Roller Coaster Ride

We have been on a very hilly, fast turning and at times, slow moving, herky-jerky roller coaster ride with surprises or disappointments around every turn ever since we began this adoption journey.  It hasn't been easy but I can't imagine not being on this crazy ride.  I'm giddy with anticipation wondering who is meant to be in our family.  I'm worried about attachment issues.  I'm worried about what this child/ren have suffered.  I love the idea of being a mommy again.  I'm honored to be a part of something bigger than myself and being the hands and feet of Jesus.  I'm frustrated with not knowing when we will finally find our child/ren and get them home.  I'm angry that international adoption costs so much.  I'm completely discouraged at how slow the money is coming in.  Yep.  Roller coaster.  Big time.  However, I'm determined to trust and not let my feelings get the best of me.  One thing I do know, it will happen.  Somehow.  Someway.  We are praying for miracles and that God will completely blow our minds during this process.  This is how you can pray for us as well.  So for now we will keep putting one foot in front of the other and work our tails off until our child/ren is/are home.

Waiting

This year has been the year of waiting for our family.  We have been waiting for several things since January of this year.  And now the wait continues.  We are practically done with all our paperwork which is a pretty big deal.  However, we cannot send our dossier until we raise 7700 dollars to send it to Ethiopia.  That is only the first chunk of money needed in this process, but this is the one we need to focus on right now.  So we table the paperwork and wait.  Please pray for us.  We have raised some of the money so far, which you can see on our little fundraiser gauge to right, but we also need quite a bit more.  We are requesting older children with possible special needs so you can probably guess that we are anxious to get through this quickly for the sake of whoever belongs in our family and to be able to meet their needs, which are more than likely not being met in an orphanage.  Thank you for your interest in our journey and more importantly your prayers.  Just a reminder, if you want to pitch in and help this child/ren come home you can click on the donate button to the right or buy a delicious bag of coffee by clicking on the just love coffee link on the right.  Five dollars from every bag purchased goes toward bringing our  child/ren home.

Hope

Today I have hope.  Hope that God is in this adoption.  I always knew that but had a hard time staying focused and really believing.  God is steadfast.  He NEVER moves.  It's always me that moves, dodging and weaving His grace, turning my face away from His.  My prayer today is that I hold on to this beautiful, life giving truth.  I don't know what tomorrow will bring but as His word says, "Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matt. 6:34


I end this blog post with this:


2Cor. 2:14
"Now thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ."

Little Annoyances

I don't have much to say today.  There have been a few (minor) delays in our paperwork process, mostly because of some stupid mistakes I made in filling some things in.  Yep I'm a homeschool mom and apparently I can't add.  So annoyed with myself.  Thankfully it's super easy to fix, just a little annoying.  Please pray that we can finally finish this paper chase and the last details will go smoothly, like county and state certifying the proper documents, fingerprints for immigration and things like that.  We really appreciate the prayers, please if you think of us, continue to pray for  patience, wisdom in decision making and for our funding to catch up.  Thanks!

God is Moving

What started out as a nice little getaway to visit Nate's Grandparents turned into a blessing fest!  First and foremost, Nate's Grandparents are two of the most wonderful people I have ever known.  They are loving, caring, self sacrificing and so giving.  They love the Lord with a contagious love.  Their main goal in life is to serve.  Very selfless people who will drop everything to be there for anyone.  Just being able to spend time with them is our first blessing.  Friday night as we sat down to dinner with them, Grandpa asked Nate if he would be willing to share our adoption journey with his Sunday School class.  Of course, Nate said yes.  An hour later Nate was working earnestly on a presentation for the class.  This morning,our second blessing came when Nate was able to share what's been going on.  We are extremely passionate about caring for the orphans and it was so nice to be able to raise awareness for this cause.  The response from everyone in the room was blessing number three.  We felt supported and encouraged and know that we have  gained several new prayer warriors on our behalf and most importantly, the fatherless.  It's so exciting to see how God is moving. He is. He really is.  I have struggled the last few weeks with trust.  I have had times when I forgot that this is HIS story and HIS mission, HE is just using us to accomplish this work.  I am humbled that God could use even me......which is blessing (more like, miracle) number four.  Blessing number five came when we were presented with a generous donation today.  We couldn't believe it!  I'm not mentioning any names, because knowing these people they wouldn't want to be in the spotlight, but you know who you are and we are so very thankful to you!!  I hope that I don't lose sight of all I learned today.  It's sad, but more often than not I will one day have a thankful heart, then fall asleep that night and wake the next day and not even remember.  I really can't stand my human-ness sometimes.  God has blessed us this weekend and we are so undeserving.  He is good.  

Things are Moving Fast!

This morning I am feeling two emotions.  One, excitement at the prospect of being able to meet my goal of completing the dossier by Thanksgiving.  I really do think we can do this.  Two, stress about the huge fee we need in place in order to get the dossier to Ethiopia.  We have raised 800 dollars so far towards our goal of 7700 dollars.  I am so thankful for those friends and family members who generously bought coffee or donated money.  Each time I got a notice about about a donation or got into our online coffee shop and see that a purchase was made, I was so touched and thankful and it really made my day.  I'm excited that God is moving and there are people out there who care and are taking part in saving a life and helping an orphan find his forever family.  Gives me chills to think of it!  We have our last home study meeting on Friday morning and have a few loose ends to tie up before we are done.  Please pray with us that God will continue to provide for us and that if it's HIS will that things will happen quickly.  There is great reason to believe that it might not be His will for things to happen fast.  Maybe our son isn't even in the orphanage yet and He's waiting because, well, His timing is perfect.  Also pray that we will be patient and willing to rest in God's timing and His love that He has for this little someone out there.  It's been a tough day for me in the patience and stress department.  Just being honest.  Thank you for your continued prayers, keep them comin'!! 

Oh and one last thing, I figured out how to put the fundraiser tracker on our blog! Aaaaaand, drum roll please......we saved 500 dollars with our family challenge!!!