blog

Happy December

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:33:18 +0100

What an amazing work God is doing! We recently posted our last fundraiser on Facebook and had an enormous amount of support. Thank you to everyone who felt led to give! With the amount raised we have been able to update our homestudy and increase the amount for our in-country fee. We are on the homestretch and it's very exciting to see it finally moving faster. We're praying to receive a referral by Christmas or to at least be placed on the waiting list. We'll let you know if this is what He wants too! :)

Thank you all again for your support and encouragement! We just need to keep reminding ourselves that the process will go in the speed God knows best for our family, son included.

Summer

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 11:49:17 +0100

We had a wonderful summer working on our dossier as much as we could. It's been a long process waiting on the money to come in, but we are still trusting that God's timing is perfect. We are getting closer and closer and hoping to raise the last (and biggest) amount of money quickly so we can finalize this and bring him home! He has most likely been born since we are hoping to get a 2-3 year old, so we are praying for health and safety as he is over there waiting. We are praying for his care givers also, as well as his emotional, physical and spiritual needs. Please pray with us.

The waiting is one of the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I know that there is a reason for why he is still over there and not home with us, but I don't know what that is; I don't know if I will ever know. Trust in God is what I need to accomplish now and it is definitely being put to the test. A recent sermon at our church was an encouragement for me. We are stand-ins for God. He is Father of all and this child belongs to Him before us. He cares more deeply and loves stronger for this child than we do. I would not be able to get through this process if I didn't know that our Ethiopian son was in His Hands.

Spring

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 18:44:25 +0100

It's spring here in Charlotte and beautiful! We went on our first family vacation last week! We had such a wonderful time and can't wait until we can have another with the five of us. We are hoping to have our dossier complete with a referral in the next few months. We are all really looking forward to knowing who our boy will be and knowing how to specifically pray for him each day. The girls are getting very anxious (Cady cries often for him) and just don't understand why it is going so slow. We love sharing with them the calling and excitement of this process.

Grants

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 01:58:41 +0100

We have received two grants for the adoption so far. Show Hope (founded by Stephen Curtis Chapman) has given us $4,000. We also received a matching grant from Hand in Hand of $2,500. We sent out letters to friends and family and have had such generosity shown already. We are close to paying for the agency fee and will then start our Dossier, once that is complete we will get our referral! Thanks for the continued prayers!

Plugging Away

Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:34:11 +0100

We are still plugging away with the fundraising. Today they reviewed our application for the Show Hope grant. We hope to hear something soon. We are also going to apply for Hand in Hand which will double our donations. We will be attending the annual Latta Plantation Craft Fair where I will be selling my jewelry and some puppets that the girls made. We will also be having our neighborhood yard sale on Oct 1st.

Ethiopia has closed 90% of their international adoptions so the process has slowed down 10-12 months. Unfortunately it will be on the other side of our referral. If they close altogether (which many countries have), then Congo may be an option for us. We are leaning towards a boy and one that is a bit older in age, maybe 2 or 3.

Thanks for your continual prayers. I will try to post more often.

One year later...

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:44:41 +0100

It has been one year exactly since our decision to adopt. We knew it would be a long process, but it has been very exciting too! We had another fundraiser on Sat night. Amy hosted a jewelry party for me and I sold about $130 in my jewelry. It was very successful and I hope to do more in the coming months. Check out the site to help support us and receive some original pieces at the same time.

We have completed our homestudy and have now been officially accepted with Celebrate Children International. We will now be filling out more paperwork and raising/needing the majority of the funds. We still have not decided on a boy or girl yet or age, but when the time comes we trust that God will make it obvious to us. We are trusting Him through this process and know that it will all happen in His perfect time.

Moving Forward

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:15:29 +0100

We have had a couple meetings with our social worker so far. She is very nice and easy to talk to. One more where she will get to talk to the girls and tour the house. We are in the middle of the paperwork now and making copies of... well our life. :) It has been a great process so far.

Here we go!

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:11:57 +0100

We've officially begun the process! Enough money has been raised to apply for the home study through Nathanson. We are very excited and anxious about beginning. This process will most likely take about 4 months, so we will keep everyone updated. We will be receiving our new blessing from Ethiopia, age/gender has not been decided yet. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Timely Gifts

Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:44:04 +0100

"Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." James 1:17 (NIV)

I read a devotional this morning and it reminded me that our baby is a gift from God and He will work out the details in His time, no sooner and no later than He thinks best. The phrase "His perfect time" means more to me now than it ever has before. He knows when we will be ready and allowing Him to take control is the only way to assure peace during His perfect time. In the same way, we do not give an infant a bike for their birthday because they are not ready for it. Our precious gift will come when we are ready to receive and when He is ready to give.

The prayer that was written for the devotion was this: "Dear Lord, waiting on You is so hard! My heart wants to get things moving, step up and take action. Help me to always bring my desires to You, knowing that You always have my best at heart. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

We are getting closer and closer to the start which is beginning the home study and applying with an agency. We are leaning towards Ethiopia and are more open to either boy or girl. Thanks for the continued prayers.

A special Welcome Home to Makaila! Justin's parents and Karina just recently brought home their new baby girl from Ethiopia. Praying daily for health, adjustment and strength. Love you guys!

Fundraising

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:25:46 +0100

We had our first fundraiser on Saturday, a non-stop 7 hour yard sale! I was so encouraged by the donations from everyone in our church/school family which made it into a huge sale that people couldn't resist. We had customers the entire time. Thank you to everyone who helped/donated. A special thanks to the Nickerson's who allowed us to clutter their home for a few days and helped with it all. Thanks to the kids for doing the bake sale and donating things as well. You are a selfless family and we are blessed to have you as such great friends.

I am still struggling with timing. I know deep down inside that God's timing is best, but my human nature is to take things into my own hands. What lousy hands those would be however. Please pray for me to be patient and trust Him every minute of every day, to remind myself when I get discouraged that His timing it always best.

We hope to get started on our home study soon. I will keep everyone updated!