Well its been forever since I have blogged! I actually enjoy reading other peoples blogs than blogging about our life :) I'm just not very good at putting my thoughts into words.
We have been in a "paper chase" frenzy around here! We mailed our Dossier into Christian World Adoption a couple weeks ago and of course we made some mistakes. So after begging some friends to notarize some referral papers and resigning some papers with our FULL names not just first and last, we overnighted today. HOPEFULLY we will be able to send the Dossier to Ethiopia in the next couple weeks. And this is the time when most families would be put on a waiting list and wait for 8-12 months for a referral. But since we are adopting a "waiting" child we only have to wait for a court date! We are excited that its getting closer! The waiting is SO so hard!
We got some good news yesterday! We applied a couple months ago for some grants from different places. Well yesterday Britton was at work (of course) and I took the boys to story hour in West Milton. Our case manager Sue usually calls me with questions or information. So since my phone was on silent she called Britton and told him that we got a grant!!!!! Later Britton was telling me how he was praying to God all morning asking him for help to be able to pay the "big chunk" that we still owed and then Sue called and it was a total God moment for him to know that God was listening to his prayers. We feel beyond blessed with this grant and it paid off half of our remaining balance so now our whole adoption is paid for and we now are praying to the Lord to somehow supply the money for our two trips to Africa.
I heard a comment today and I just want to clarify. The statement was that they felt sorry for us that Gracie is so old and they just wished we could have gotten a baby. This statement is not ok with me! I just want everyone to know that God did not call us to adopt a baby. Yes we applied for 0-5 years but the Lord {CHOSE} Gracie for our family. You see when the Lord opens your eyes to the great need for adoption He does not just put babies in your mind. There are so many "waiting children" and when you get an email full of children that are waiting simply because of there age your heart just aches to adopt them all! You should know that we are THRILLED that Gracie is 5-7 years old!! The Lord knew that I could not handle another baby right now and He KNEW that Carter gets along better with older children and He knows that we love her so much and He knows that {someday} we want to adopt a baby. But for now He knows that she is p.e.r.f.e.c.t. for our family! We trust HIM in this and we trust that He knows what He's doing and He is behind this!
I wonder if people realize that the statements they make can really hurt people. Just imagine if I told Gracie that we wished she were a baby.Can you imagine the look on her sweet face when she would realize that nobody wanted her because of her age? As far as I know her health is perfect. Suppose we choose to adopt a special needs child someday, will people say, " Oh to bad they couldn't have gotten a healthy child." It just is so not fair to make mindless comments like this. God has called us to LOVE a 5-7 (and yes she is probably seven) year old little girl from Ethiopia a place that is so foreign to me. But He has called us to simply love her.
On a happier note we are working on her bedroom! It is so cute with light pink walls and white shabby chic ;) bedroom furniture. Thank you to some special people for your donation of money! We have been waiting so long to buy the queen mattress for her bed. Praying for the Lord to show us a good deal or help us with the extra cost. Another way he has shown his Hand through friends! We thank you so much!
PLEASE join us in prayer as we get closer to going over to Ethiopia. Prayer for: money for our tickets, peace about flying that many hours {shiver!!} in the air, prayer for our little girl as she gets ready to completely change her life, prayer for Me leaving my boys ( only with God can I do this) , prayer for l.e.a.v.i.n.g. her there telling her goodbye and promising we will be back( pretty sure I cant do this either without the Lord), prayer that the rest of the paperwork process will go smoothly and we will soon be able to go see her.
I repeat this all the time to myself, ...with God ALL things are possible...I believe it!
Kristy, I understand, never ever would I have thought we would adopt a 15 year old boy. God chose him for us, beyond my understanding, but we know we have been lead to do this great thing that only He can help us through and bless us with. He has given Darren and I new eyes to see through, the need of so many children, especially older ones, that wait and wait and wait for a family to call their own. God is soo amazing in His work in us. Bless you, turn to Him in your frustration and know that He provides the only peace we need. My mom gave me this verse in my frustration one day.
ReplyDelete"God will bless you for this, if you endure the pain of undeserved suffering because you are conscious of HIS will." I Peter 2:19 Love you dear friend. :)
Hey Kristy!!
ReplyDeleteI was so excited to finally see an update from you! We kept tabs on you a little through our social worker when we were working with her (though no names were mentioned as she couldn't :) ) but have been wondering how it's going.
It is amazing to me how folks think that we picked out the perfect child for us... We could have, I guess, but chose to rather let God fill in the blanks for us. Our first time around we didn't specify anything other than the age group (8mo. - 3 yrs.) and ended up with a girl and a boy. The girl was a shock, as Russia will typically have way more boys than girls available. This time, we figured we would likely bring home a three year old (we didn't specify again) and God blessed us with a child who is barely one year old. WOW!!! That's likely as close to a baby in the house that we will ever have...unless God blesses us with a baby someday!!! Miracles do happen, you know!!
The wait between trips is so hard, but God will see you through it. We are in week six since we last saw our little guy, and while it isn't easy, neither is it devastating. God. All God.
Blessings to you! Praying for a speedy adoption process.....