We are family! (Blog 2 by Daniel)

Tonight we held our second fundraiser for the adoption; overall we had a great night.  We were able to raise some money and saw people help out in different ways.   As you begin to think about all the hoops we have to go through, the time it takes, and cost you wonder how this will be possible.  Tonight while running around in the gym with 17 kids, 3 older students to help, and 5 adults I started to see something.

When we decided to do this we figured we could do it and ask one or two friends for help and be ok.  Then we had some families in the church that said they wanted to support us in the process and wanted to come help.   Then we had some students who also volunteered to sacrifice a few hours to help.  We also had a few families who went beyond what we were asking and gave a little extra.   

I begin to think how awesome it will be when we bring our child home for the first time and these families get to see the child they helped bring home.   It will be a joyful day when it is finished and the process is over, but it will also be a joyful day for everyone who has sacrificed something to see a life changed by something they helped with.  

This adoption is not only about adding one more to our personal family, but bringing another member to our church family.  It was great seeing members of our church family support us in so many ways.   One day soon our family will have a great day when we have our child home, but it goes far beyond just us to all the people who have are supporting our adoption through money, time, and prayer.

A believe more support is coming because we have great friends and a great church family.  Thanks to everyone who has sacrificed something to help us in the process.  You are making a tremendous impact in the life of a child and because of you the day is getting closer and closer for us to bring home our child.

It's my birthday!!!

Happy birthday to me!!! I'm am officially 30 today. Don't really know how I feel about it, but ready or not...it's here. Its been a great day. Everybody at work made a big deal about it (that really meant a lot), Daniel was out of the ordinary sweet to me, the kids all picked me out a gift (Colby-gum, Micah-gummy worms, Mayson-egg-shaped chapstick, Levi's too young to have an opinion) and we went to eat with my family at Logan's. My dad drove down from Albany, my brother rushed home from work an hour away, and my mom ordered me special cake just because I'm her little girl. Being able to spend my birthday surrounded by my family just talking and being together was so great. As I rode to school this morning and I was thinking about the plans we had tonight, it occurred to me how blessed I am to have a family that would go out of their way to make this day special for me. Today I was reminded how much they all truly love me.  With all this fuss about me today.....

It makes me think of this child, our child,  that is waiting for a family like that. Waiting for a mom and dad, sisters and brothers to go out of their way to make him know he is loved. What he doesn't realize is that he already has a family like that...our family. He doesn't realize yet that he is loved beyond anything he could even imagine right now, and that everyday we are getting closer and closer to being able to celebrate his special day....together. Can't wait!

Adoption Video

I just watched a video of a family's adoption story. They adopted a baby boy from Ethiopia. It was such an amazing story. I cried the whole time just thinking that our baby is somewhere right now waiting for us to bring him home. It showed the moment she saw him for the first time. That gives me chills. I cant' wait for the moment when I lay eyes on him and know that all of this that God has called us to is worth it. Seeing him, I know, will make every frustration and worry disappear. The video ended with a quote that is so true:

"Following God's plan for your life will be worth it every time." Amen

Watch it if you have time. Believe me...it's amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNhhejqvKsQ 

God is so cool

I can honestly say I have seen God answer prayer...not in hindsight....not from someone's testimony, but up close. Here's a long story made short...

To adopt from Russia you have to add up all the assets you have and subtract the liabilities. The difference has to be $35,000 dollars more assets than liabilities. Weeelllll...as you could probably guess, that was a bit of a concern for us. Being in your 20's with 4 kids, mortage, student loans, etc...doesn't exactly make for a whole bunch of assets just lying around. So, we've been praying about it for a while, and we found out this week that we could add something we didn't think was an asset into our assets (hopefully that makes sense) Doing that put us waaaay over the $35,000 difference we needed...That's a huge sigh of relief you hear. God has also led a few people to donate to us just kind of out of the blue. We still have a looong way to go, but we know we will get our baby here soon because like I said......God is so cool!!!

A few loose ends

Ok...I know its been awhile...again. Can't imagine why I don't just blog every day :) Anyhow, here's the update. We have finished our part of the homestudy. Passed the home visits and have been deemed fit parents (just a little late I think, but we'll take it) The social worker is finishing up her part and hopefully it won't take DHR forever to put the final approval on it all. Pray for that because we need the homestudy to apply for grants....to raise the money....to continue the process. It it is all starting to run together, but I know God is in control and He is always faithful.

We are about finished gathering all of the documents for the Russian packet (aka "the dossier"). Once that's done, paid for,  and sent in, we should have a referral pretty quick ("they" say). We've been praying for a quick process and so far I guess it's been pretty steady, but it's like the last 3 months of pregnancy when you can see the end in site, but can't speed things up at all. I just can't wait to meet him, and I worry about him every day. My little Micah even prays for him every night that God will "keep our little brother safe while he's waiting on us to adopt him". It can't say it better myself.

Some more good news is that we've gotten in touch with another family close by that are adopting from Russia too. They are a family of 5 and are just a little ahead of us in the process. The wife and I have emailed some back and forth and exchanged prayer requests. I think this relationship will be such a blessing and I am looking forward to rejoicing with them as they bring their baby home.

So, be in prayer for them too as you pray for us and Jonathan and Jessica. It's amazing to see God calling so many to change the life of a child. Also, we are doing a fundraiser on Valentine's Day to raise money for the adoption. Keep that in your prayers too. Hope to bring more good news soon!