A few thoughts as we complete the Home Study

Not sure I, (Amber) realized how this journey could feel like a tug of war between beauty and sadness.

Yesterday we had a wonderful social worker come to our home for a little over 3 hours to sit and talk with us about family history, parenting, becoming a transracial & transcultural family and a few other things. She asked good questions and I felt so much sincerity in her heart as she encouraged us to use our support network as much as possible when our little one comes home. The time passed quickly, and before I knew it, she left and said our report will be ready in a couple weeks.

As I closed the door, I scrambled around to finish supper and get ready to go teach for the evening. It felt so surreal to have a big step done in this process. On Wednesday night, I get to teach Bethel courses up at Southwestern Michigan College and as I  drove through the beautiful winding roads up to SMC, with the sun starting to go down over the trees, I felt a sense of excitement wash over me. Kind of a, "We did it! We made it through the home study!" (side note: it wasn't terrible or anything- just lots to do & put together) :)

Anyway- my elation was short lived. This may sound odd but try to follow me here. I was excited to get one step closer on this adoption journey. But getting one step closer in the adoption journey also means that somewhere in Ethiopia there a mommy (maybe with a growing belly) that will not be able to care for a child the way she wants to. It may be due to disease, or poverty, or who knows what else.

I read somewhere** that another adoptive mom was writing about how their adoptive child was not necessarily "supposed" to be a part of their family- to clarify, that their child was not somehow destined by God to be with them (instead of the birth parents) in His miraculous plan. In God's original plan, there would be no disease, no devastating poverty. Moms & Dads would be able to care for and love their kids anywhere on the planet in the way their hearts desire. However- sin entered back in the Garden of Eden and we live in a fallen world with disease and devastating poverty. She described it much more eloquently than I did here but the point is, that there is much grief, and sadness that takes place first. Sadness and loss of a mommy, a daddy, a child, extended relatives, a community that finds itself unable to care for orphaned children in the way they WANT to.

And for a moment- as I drove to teach eager students about the world around them, I felt the sting. I felt the sadness that is inevitable for our little girl and her birth family. And then, I cried- tears of sadness for the loss. tears of humble gratitude that God would call us to provide a family after that loss, and tears of joy, that yes- we made it through the home study.

Blessings friends- thank you for praying with us this week. Next step- Dossier!



**please forgive me for not remembering what blog it was from- if I recall and find it, I will certainly add it here and give credit.

HELLOOOOO Garage Sale!!

This weekend had to be one of the most beautiful weekends of the summer!
Anyone else walking around a tad bit pink??   Just me? Ouch...

Anyway, welcome back friends! I really don't know how to describe this weekend, but I'll do my best.

Thursday morning we started getting everything out for the weekend. I knew we had a lot of items donated over the course of the year, but it wasn't until Thursday morning that I went, "oh wow, this is A LOT of stuff!" About 11 hours later we were still pulling things out of storage and out of boxes to see what we had! So basically what I am saying here is that, YOU GUYS ROCK! There is no way this weekend would have been so "successful" if it were not for you and your generous donations. Thank You doesn't seem to be good enough, but for now that is all I've got.

We were blessed with a very steady stream of folks all day Friday & Saturday. Sunday was a bit slower, but we didn't mind because by that time we were running on fumes! We got to meet a lot of new friends and had some awesome conversations. We had a garage sale last year, but this one was different. People wanted to stop and talk this year. Folks asked me about missions, they asked about adoption, and God, and the orphan crisis in Africa and around the world. It was beautiful to watch hearts soften to the things that break (and heal) ours. A lot of people started sharing about their lives. Family concerns, fears, cancer, parenting, waiting for test results..... I was honored by their openness and bravery to really answer when I asked, "how are ya?" So, Thank You to my new friends & new blog readers. You kept us focused and reminded us of our purpose.

We were also blessed by familiar faces who came out to the sale. I couldn't adequately share how uplifting it was to be running all around, slightly overwhelmed by the weekend and then see a smiling familiar face. I know you likely didn't NEED that used Barbie doll or bag of Christmas decor, but God knew I needed you to come share a smile or an encouraging word. It sustained us, energized us. Thank you.
An extra special shout out to a few of my Bethel students who came! (Even after I posted grades and there were no brownie points to be earned!) My students are the best on earth!

So, that was our weekend. Garage Sale with God. It may sound quirky or cliche, but there was something Divine about the encounters and conversations we were blessed to have and if you look to the right, at the thermometer update, we were clearly blessed financially this year. I could have NEVER imagined the outcome of this weekend. THANK YOU. We are almost there!

A heart full of gratitude,
Amber

Just a couple pictures of all the great donations that wouldn't fit in the garage for the "garage sale"
The garage itself was still full!

LET'S GO!

Are you ready?

     I am.

Before you read further, take a peek at that beautiful thermometer! Yes, in case you missed it- yesterday that puppy read: $11,018.

We first shared that we were going to start the process of adopting in mid to late May of 2012. In the original “plan” (God thinks MY plans are funny by the way) my goal was to have half of our fundraising done ($14,000) in one year and have the home study complete by June 2013. As June drew near, it was clear that it was not going to happen. We were not prepared financially and it was clear that it was not the right time. I distinctly remember the end of May/ beginning of June mourning that I hadn’t met “the goal” yet, even though we had worked tirelessly for a very long time to get to the goal. Feeling distraught that my timing was wrong and uncertain of what this meant, I recall crying in prayer, “God how much longer until we get ½ way financially to the goal.” At the time, we were still a good $3,000 away from the half way mark, which in my mind, may as well have been $300,000! It started to feel unattainable. Ashamedly, I admit that I doubted, I questioned….. “was I wrong in feeling God is leading us, calling us to adopt from Ethiopia?” But amidst that, I felt that still, small voice saying…”keep going, don’t stop.”

I kept coming back to Hebrews 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us”  (emphasis added)

Then, it happened, clarity. Promise. Light. Hope.

Now, here I am walking into August (mind you only 2 short…okay looooong months after “my goal” of June) and we are not only half way to the financial goal- we BLEW PAST the half way mark!

What does this mean? So glad you asked! In August and September we will:

1.) Officially apply to the adoption agency that we would like to work with

2.) Complete our home study (hopefully by early Sept)

3.) Begin putting together the dossier.

August is going to be big month folks!

I (frankly) had been avoiding August like the plague for another reason. I am turning 30. It is actually my golden birthday this year (30 on the 30^th). However now, I think it is time to leave my 20’s in the dust, grab onto 30…. and hang on tight because it is going to be awesome.

Only about $8,000 to go in fundraising. Can you believe it?!? ONLY $8,000 left. Who is ready to push that thermometer to the top with me!

Ready. Set. GO!

Where have you been! And, what is going on with the adoption!?!

Good morning friends and family and random blog readers from the U.K. (blogger tells me you hop on and read)   :)

Well, clearly it has been several months since I have posted on here. However, the time has come to get rolling!

First to answer a couple brief questions:
1.) I haven't heard much about the adoption lately, are you still doing that?
Answer: YES, YES and YES! So here is the deal friends, we had been fundraising our brains out for about a year and needed to take a moment to breathe. It is important to continue to be good stewards of the family we have in our home and invest here just as much as we invest in fundraising. We had to hit the pause button to take care of one another and be as healthy as we can be in moving forward in this adoption journey. The journey is long, and emotional, and exhausting (and this is just the beginning!) We sprinted for almost a year to raise funds for the adoption, and needed a little water break to stretch before we started running again.

In the meantime, I would like to say thank you SO much to all of you who have been praying for our family

2.) So, where are you at? What is next? Where is your thermometer now!?!
Answer: You didn't really think I would come back after a blogging hiatus and just show you all my cards right away did you? Let me say this.... In the next 48 hours I will be posting an AWESOME update that will blow some of you out of the water. Take a peek at where the thermometer is today....it won't look that way for long.


Anticipation. Excitement. Get ready......

Amber

Pennies from Heaven

If there is one thing about our adoption journey that makes me a bit sad, it is that Josh’s mom, Jeri never knew we were planning to adopt. We had started talking about it before she passed away but had not announced it to our family. It was only a couple weeks after her courageous battle with cancer ended, that we announced our intent to adopt. IF I could go back- the only part of our adoption story I would change is that I would make sure that she knew.

             Jeri was a phenomenal mother and then an extraordinary grandmother. Before she became ill, she would change a poopy diaper for you- just so she could be close to her grandbabies. (Now THAT is love folks!) The grandchildren who were born before her passing each have their own special song that she wrote and she would sing it to them every chance she got. We would give just about anything to have her here with us, but we find peace that God’s plan is ALWAYS bigger than our own.

            After Christmas Roger (Joshua’s dad) was over and told us that he discovered that Jeri had additional life insurance that he did not know existed. Anyway, Roger decided to split the money between his children and said we could do whatever we wanted with this money from Jeri. However, what do you do with your final gift from your mother? Josh and I have thought about it and we think that if Jeri were here, she would be right beside us- working every fundraiser possible trying to help us bring this little girl home. So, it just seems fitting that our final gift from mom would be to get a few steps closer to our goal of bringing Noel home. I can’t wait to look in Noel’s eyes and tell her all about her beautiful Grandma Jeri; and even though they will not meet in this life, we can tell Noel that Grandma Jeri helped bring her home to us.

Thanks mom,
Josh & Amber