One Year..

                                           Mothers day 2010, next year 2 more children!

One year ago we started this whole process..One year ago we told our family and friends...One year ago I started dreaming of my children...One year ago I started praying for the millions of orphans in the world..One year ago my eyes were opened

It has felt like the longest year, each phase of the adoption has had a wait time. First, we waited to see if we were accepted in the program. 2nd would all of our background checks and medical info be approved..3rd wait for our Homestudy to be approved..4th ,wait for the much anticipated I71h form...5th..wait for the awesome DTE news( 2/19/10)..6th, Wait to receive our referral(see our childrens faces for the first time!!!!)WE ARE HERE...That is not the end of the waiting...more waiting to come
But now I would just love to know who my children are...somedays we are so busy with the kids I forget for a minute but it always feels like something or someone is missing. Many people still dont approve or agree or understand our decision..why more? you already have 3!!! That will have to be answered when you meet our children and see how blessed they are and how blessed we are!!

One year...This year I will see my children...hold my children...be a family of 7!!

 Today marks 3 months of waiting on the"unofficial" list! In the last 3 months things have moved quickly in adoption world. We are now in the Top 10 who are waiting. We have now opened our hearts up to whatever children God has chosen for us. I had a "plan" or an idea in my mind who my children were but I have quickly realized that I am not the decision maker! We discovered this one in Haiti. Everyday we set out with a planned agenda and every day God chose a different path. When we originally started talking about adoption my heart was in China, then after our adoption seminar Ethiopia started tugging at our hearts. We then opened up to siblings! TWO?! Yes Lord we can do that! While waiting we have been open to siblings or 2 unrelated children. We knew we wanted 2 one of each, a boy and a girl. Well that has not changed but we opened up to the possibilies of a bigger age range. Originally we asked for a boy(0-6mth) and a girl (18mth-5yr) now we have decided it can be either way a girl and a boy or a boy and a girl and the younger one can be (0-18mths). I am at peace with my decision! When I had my biological children I could not choose who they were, God did. I know he already has my children picked out. However that may look! Now we wait some more for him to show us thier faces!

Changes..

So......another road bump!!! So we were advised by our adoption agency to open up our age request. So this is what we came up with..SIBLINGS OR UNRELATED boy/girl or girl/boy. One 0-18mths and one 18mths-5yrs. We pray this will help us meet our children sooner!!

Waiting...

So according to all of the info we have we should be next for a sibling referral!!!! We also should be next for 2 unrelated children if siblings are not available...so what that means is i carry my phone everywhere I go and pray the next call is my adoption agency telling me "This is your referral call"!!!! Until that day I will be emotional...jumpy..anxious and going CRAZY!!!!!!!!! Please pray for me to have patience because we are waiting for 2 children our wait could be longer than usual....but it could be ANY DAY!!!

Yard Sale Blessings

This weekend was our Adoption Yard sale... We were blessed with donations from many people! Not only did we have lots to sell but we were given $280 in cash donations!!! Friends baked goodies to sell and so did Marianna! Marianna and her friend handled the bake sale and the $ collection on Saturday and Francesca helped on Friday! The grand total was $980! We are soo thankful to all that helped in any way! I was so happy to be able to share about our adoption, I pray we planted a few seeds! We were also lucky to meet a women who works for a local adoption agency....she is a wealth of information! She is able to give me all of the contact info I need to get in contact with the local Ethiopian community!!!

Some people know all along they want to adopt others it gets laid on thier hearts later in life...If you have every thought about it..LOOK INTO IT!!! It is not too late! Even if your kids are grown there are still children needing a family..maybe you don't want an infant but there are so many older children without families. Maybe adoption isnt for you but you want to help a child in some way..SPONSER a child. We were blessed to work with Missions of Mercy when I recently visited Haiti. I saw first hand where the money goes and the families and children it helps. There are so many children out there! As one of our yard sale patrons said "IF EVERYONE DID ONE GOOD DEED HOW GOOD WOULD THE WORLD BE!!" I know we can't save every child but we can ALL help at least ONE!!

If you are thinking of adoption or fostering check out these websites:

America World (our christian adoption agency) http://www.awaa.org/

Baker Victory ( a local adoption agency-very recommended by friends) www.bakervictoryservices.org/adoption.html

To Sponser a child:
www.missionofmercy.org/

WE ARE #1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This week was crazy!! Our adoption agency was full of activity!! LOTS of referrals..court dates...and traveling families! We made the unofficial list 2 months ago, at that point all movement stopped so I did not get very excited but....NOW IM EXCITED!!!!! Right now we are the next family in line to get a referral of siblings between the ages of 0-5 yrs old! We have requested siblings..a baby boy 0-6mths and a girl 18mths-5yrs. So....the next kids that match our request are ours! I am in shock!! We were told by our adoption agency that siblings are VERY rare and we could wait a loong time but after this weeks craziness I am very hopeful. I also know that nothing is TOO big for GOD!

So what is a referral?! Our adoption agency will call us and say..."Its your referral call."...that means we have been matched with our children. They will then send us an email containing thier pictures and information! We will then fill out our acceptance paperwork and mail our next HUGE fee..

We will then wait for them to schedule us a court date about 6-8 weeks later..we will be required to travel then to meet them!Im getting way ahead but I just wanted to explain where we are at..HOPEFUL and EXCITED!!