Where we are at ...

First of all, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the donations so far. They are greatly appreciated.

Some people may be a little confused about where we are at and what is going on.

We are moving ahead to try and get these boys. Just not as quickly as some would like us to. With adoption there are many questions, and not a lot of answers. We are waiting to hear back from the placement agency on these questions.

If the fact that this placement isn't a done deal makes people uncomfortable giving we TOTALLY and COMPLETELY understand. As Paul mentioned last night, there are two tracks that are needing to happen simultaneously: information and fundraising. The fundraising is like Gideon's Fleece for us. And it's coming in, just not as quickly as we had hoped. We see this as God's confirmation to proceed a bit more slowly.

All that said: We are NOT giving up. We aren't backing down. We are doing this for HIS sake. These boys are HIS children. We want them to be our children too. The question is: Will He let us? We only want to do His will. No more. No less.

We will let you know further as soon as possible. Thank you again for your generosity!

(Note: If the placement with us falls through, then we will be contacting each donor individually and privately to determine what you would like us to do with your donation.)

Generosity

So the total money we now have toward our adoption is $6670. We started out by putting in $5000 ourselves, money that we had set aside for adoption, savings, and other projects. Our seed offering. The rest has been given to us by 64 people - sixty-four very generous family and friends who either love us, love children, or both. I cannot thank you enough. (And I look forward to an upcoming home school project with my children of writing lots and lots of thank-you notes!)

One of the biggest things I am realizing is how many people love adoption. How many people's hearts are stirred to care for three little boys they have never met. Three little boys who some may soon welcome into their family and friend community. Three little boys who others may never meet in this world. But it makes no difference. Because we are all brothers and sisters. We are all the body of Christ, and we care for one another. That's the way it should be. And I am honored to be a part of it. You have blessed and encouraged me beyond words. Not only that you would give so generously, but that we really are not alone in our heart to care for orphans. Isn't that so prideful? But it can start to feel that way sometimes. And then something like this happens and you realize how mistaken you were. Many, many, many people love the Lord and love His children. Thank you for showing that to me today.

We are wanting to make sure that we follow the Lord very carefully in this. We will be talking with the social workers more tomorrow to get more information. We want to be sure that we really are the best family for these boys and they for us. This is not a commitment that we take lightly, so we are diligently seeking out godly counsel and wisdom. We hope to make a trip soon to meet them (hopefully with all our children!). We will definitely keep you updated.

Please keep praying!!!!! We are seeking God's face with all our hearts.

For a more in-depth analysis of our status in this situation, please read my husband's blog post.

Update on 3 Little Boys

My mind is reeling with all that's happened today. We talked with the boys' social worker and our own social worker. We are the first choice for these boys! We are thrilled and excited and nervous all at once. But beneath it all we know that we want God's will more than anything. We will be working on every front to make sure that we can bring them into our home (if it is God's will). We are contacting everyone we know to get the information and resources we need.

Here's a picture of my kids yesterday, fascinated by a lizard found on our back porch. Just to keep it real. :)

Thank you so much for the many donations we have received already! We are already up to $5710, and more donations keep coming in. I am in awe of how quickly God can move things when it's His time. Thank you, and please keep praying for us.

10K in 20 Days

God cares about orphans. Just read James 1:27. Our family has long felt called to adoption. We are thrilled to have adopted once and hope to adopt again in the future. Perhaps you, too, are called to adopt. Or perhaps you are called to help orphans and widows/single moms in another way, through mentoring or fostering or aunt-ing or uncle-ing or grandparenting adopted or foster children. In any case, we are all called to be a part of the body of Christ and take care of the children who need us.

10K in 20 Days is a push to raise money to bless 26 families who are in the process of adoption. It is my personal commitment to give $10 whenever I learn of a family who is raising money for adoption expenses. It is not much, but it's what I can do at this time, and I know how much every donation encouraged us when we were raising money for our own adoption. Sometimes it was the one donation at the right time that confirmed for us that God was in this and we were doing the right thing.

Will you join me? Will you donate $5 or $10 to help bring children home to their families? You can read more about this effort (and donate) here: http://www.storinguptreasures.com/2010/05/paying-it-forward.html

In addition, if you post about this on Facebook, Twitter, or your own blog, you will be entered into a contest for some great prizes!

Bring Home Alayna

This is a family that I have been following through their blog for about a year. They are amazing, have such hearts to give a home to children. God has brought a new baby to them, due to be born in the next couple of weeks. Please consider giving to help with the adoption expenses. You can read about the adoption here.

We're Adopting! Please Pray!

We just received word yesterday of a precious baby girl born on May 20th who was in need of a family. After a whirlwind of phone calls and emails, we were placed in contact with the birth mother today at 11am. We were able to talk with her for a very long time on the phone and just fell in love with her (and she with us)! So what that means is that we are suddenly leaving for Shreveport, LA Tuesday morning to pick up our new baby girl. We will be arriving in Shreveport Wednesday morning to begin the paperwork process.

We covet your prayers as we travel during this very emotional time. Please pray that things will flow smoothly and the paperwork angels will bring their 'A' game. :) Also for the peace that passes understanding for everyone involved.

The baby's birth name is "Alana Michelle". We are in awe of the fact that the birth mother gave her such a perfect name since Alan is Paul's middle name and of course Michelle.

If you would like to be part of what God is doing please click the PayPal button at the top of the page and you can donate. Every little bit helps.

Adoption Update!

So we were able to talk with the agency today and get more information about our baby's birth mother and the overall situation. It is starting to look like this might really happen! We are hoping to talk with the birth mother later this week by phone conference. That will be our "match meeting," after which she and we will confirm whether we still feel right about going forward. I am so nervous about that conversation! I'm sure she is too. Then, assuming all goes well, we will sign the contracts and move forward.

Please pray for our conversation to be relaxed and filled with peace.

Also, please be praying that the Lord brings in the funds we need. We have been saving all we can and have enough to get started, but since the baby is due in just a few weeks the full amount will be due very quickly (not sure yet just how quickly--we're hoping for a bit of leniency in this area). We are still figuring out what exactly the full amount will come to.

We know that all of this is no problem for our Abba! He has made the way before us up to now, and we know that if this is His will, He will continue to do so. All of our trust is in Him!

Bring Liza Home

Here is a story I read today on Adoption Connect, a blog I follow. Please click the link below if you would like to donate $10 or more to help bring Liza home. As a bonus, you will also be entered into a raffle!

Rick and I were married almost 4 years ago. We were both single parents before we married who knew we wanted to have more children. When we were dating we started talking about adopting and being foster parents because we knew we were unable to have more children biologically. Rick himself is adopted and I was in foster care as a child so this is something that was near to both of our hearts. We also both have strong hearts for the orphan and those who are downtrodden. We have tried a few times to adopt through different avenues and the door has always been shut to us. We were beginning to think that it was never going to happen. Then a few months ago I had a dream that I was crossing a bridge and I was carrying two children. Rick came beside me, took one of the children out of my arms, and walked on ahead of me. When he was in front of me the child looked at me and smiled like a child would smile at their mother. I noticed that it was a little girl with blonde hair and she had Down syndrome. When I woke up I just knew that I had seen my daughter. Around that time I began to pay more attention to the children on the Reece's Rainbow site again and that's where I found Liza and started to pray for her and all of the rest of the children. The Sunday before we committed to her I felt that Holy Spirit telling me to find out the meaning of her name. After church I looked it up and was floored that it meant "God's Oath". (Before we were married God promised me during a church service that we would have more children.) I immediately stepped up my prayers and asked others to pray as well. That next Friday my husband told me he wanted to commit to her. and now here we are. Believing that god will provide for us to bring her home.


Please visit Journey to a Promise and consider giving a donation to help Liza come home.

http://journeytoapromise.blogspot.com/2009/03/lizas-first-fundraiser.html