Overwhelmed

Wow.

When we started on this adoption journey we had no idea where the money would come from. Well I take that back...it was clear that God called us and so it was clear that He would make a way but I had no idea how that would actually shake out.

As of today we are 62% funded, which means we have raised almost $22,000. Seriously?!? We are over halfway there! Last week I received an unexpected email congratulating us on being awarded a large grant toward our adoption. We have applied for 5 or so grants and we were not supposed to hear anything until December, at the earliest. We were shocked and SO grateful. God continues to remind me of how much is heart beats for orphans and it was a nice encouragement in these months of waiting. It is just amazing to see God's mighty hand at work and a sweet reminder that he is moving and working even when we don't see or expect it. He is weaving together a beautiful redemptive story and although the wait is currently so difficult His plans continue.

Current Prayer Requests:
- Continued prayer for our daughter. Despite the fact that we have yet to see her face God knows who she is.

- We are waiting on USCIS approval (the last piece of our dossier puzzle). Apparently they are running long and it has taken longer than expected to hear back. Pray that we would hear good news soon.

- Please pray that our hearts would be open to God's calling. I have no idea when we will hear of a referral and I have no idea if it will be what we expect. I desire for our hearts to be open to God's leading even if it is different than we picture.

- Please pray for peace, especially for me. This wait has been SO hard the past couple of days, complete with lots of tears and discontentment. Not the prettiest picture of faith...I need more of God in my life to transform my desires and attitudes.

Yard Sale

We have now raised a little over 40% of the funds needed to bring our daughter home! Wow. I remember when we were praying and just trying to raise money for the first program installment.God has provided abundantly for this little girl to have a home. Although we still have a ways to go God continues to remind us that he has this...nothing is out of his control.

On that note...Jonathan and I continue to wait for a referral. Currently we are nearing the 2 month mark. I don't really have any expectations of a phone call any time soon which has eased my mind quite a bit however the wait is still hard. Thankfully though, the wait has been eclipsed by the fact that our schedule has been jam packed for a couple of weeks now. The first Saturday in October we held a ginormous yard sale. If I were to be completely honest I don't think I will ever organize a yard sale ever again...no seriously...I'm not kidding. The amount of work, time, energy and not to mention living room space that must be utilized for such an undertaking is just utterly exhausting.

This picture is just the tip of the iceberg. I am in no way the cleanest person alive but this amount of clutter almost pushed me over the edge. Shew. We woke up at 5am the day of the sale to organize all of the chaos. I wish I would have remembered that even the sun isn't crazy enough to be up at 5am. So we had to set up tables by the blinding light of Jon's headlights. We had so much stuff to organize that I don't think we even finished setting things up until an hour or more into the actual yard sale. The entire day was a steady flow of people and by the end of the sale it looked like we had hardly made a dent but...

all that work...

all the stress...

 

paid off.

We raised $942. In ONE day...at a yard sale! Woohoo. It's always so humbling to witness more of God's great provision. We have a few more fundraising ideas on the back burner but with the holidays coming we will probably save those for the New Year. As far as posts go I will continue to write as I feel led but until we get the long awaited phone call for a referral we probably won't have a lot of exciting stuff to share. Please continue to keep us in your prayers that we would wait well.

Three Weeks and Counting

This week will mark three weeks of being in the system in India. I know for almost all families adopting from India that will seem like a drop in the bucket. Adopting from India is an unpredictable process with families getting caught up in red tape for months. I have heard of families waiting years to even receive word of a referral and that isn't including the year or more following the referral just wading through the paperwork in India prior to getting word to travel. Waiting a year or more to get a referral...

That

is

my

fear.

For those adopting families...you were there. Remember? Remember being at the very beginning of your journey and feeling overwhelmed by the steps you still had ahead of you? For me at this moment the wait seems so painfully long. It's hard not knowing when we will finally see the face of our daughter. She is not some orphan...a number...or a random child we are adopting...our "adopted child." No! She is our daughter, plain and simple. She is our daughter who is not home yet. We have a daughter who will wake up not knowing that she has a mother and father anxious to bring her home and a little brother who keeps asking about his sister. My heart aches. This is hard. But in these moments I remember that God has spoken. There were moments His voice was crystal clear. So I remember...

God always keeps his promises...

He is always at work...

God will choose to work and move how he sees fit and not according to my plans or my time frame.

And most importantly:

God

is

GOOD.

Praise Him for his goodness. I am praying that at this moment I will learn to rest in His goodness alone. With no promise of an end date to this wait...I will rest in God.

Welcome!

Welcome to the story of our daughter!

We know that many of you may be visiting this blog for the first time, maybe you saw us on Give1Save1. We figured we would take some time to introduce ourselves.

This is Jonathan.

Jonathan is kinda crazy...ya know with that red hair and all.
He grew up in South Florida.

He likes cars.
He loves God.
He's a pastor with a heart to shepherd God's people.

He is not the only crazy one...

There is actually a whole crazy family. Four boys to be exact with a few ladies crazy enough to marry into this clan. My side of the family isn't much more sane.

I'm Kristen (the not so crazy wife).

I grew up all over the place, but like to call Kentucky my home.
I work part time helping children in crisis.
The rest of the time I stay at home with our 3 year old son.

He's kinda awesome.
.
We're an ordinary family who has felt called by God to pursue something way bigger than us. We are working hard to bring our daughter home from India. Although we have yet to see her face we know that God already has her picked out. He knows her name and her story. He knows when we will finally bring her home, so in the meantime we pray and wait for his perfect timing.

Stay tuned for more of our little girl's story. We will be sharing more about why we chose international adoption from India and what this process has looked like thus far. Thank you for joining us in this journey to bring home our daughter!

Happy Dance

 I couldn't help myself with this picture!

I was too giddy for words last night. A little after 5pm our family coordinator from America World called to inform us that she registered us with the online database in India and we are now officially waiting for a referral. We could get a phone call today (highly unlikely but still...) That is just crazy!

The wait for a referral will most likely be a long one. There is just no telling what the time-frame looks like from here on out. It is a bit odd because we went from knowing the steps and how long each step would take to being in limbo. After talking with other moms adopting from India this is how things seem to pan out until the day we get word to travel. So I am rejoicing in the moment and praising the Lord that he has brought us this far. He has used you, your prayers, your giving, and your encouragement to sustain us and prepare us to bring home our little girl.

Dear friends and family, rejoice with me today because this is a major step forward. The reality of seeing a picture of our daughter drives me to work even harder to get her home. The next phase in our fundraising is actually raising money toward our travel costs. This is where it gets exciting folks. Just the thought of applying for visas and buying plane tickets brings tears to my eyes. It's getting real.

It Is Finished

...our homestudy that is. I have in my hand a finalized, notarized homestudy. It's beautiful!!

Haha, man it feels good to have this part of the process complete. Things have kind of been in a holding pattern for a while and now all of the sudden it is moving at lightning speed. Now that our homestudy is complete I need to fill out the I-800a form which is basically a form to determine that we are suitable to adopt a child from a Hague country. While I await approval from United States Immigration I will finish up our dossier which is already close to completion.

We now await the news from America World that we are officially registered in India. At that point we will actually be waiting on a match. I don't even want to say this for fear of jinxing the whole process but...we should be registered in India by next week. That means that India and our organization will be looking through the waiting children list for a child that matches our homestudy specifications.Although the wait for our child has been in my heart for years we are finally so close to that part of our journey. If we get word this week you can bet I will be posting an update. In the meantime I will be diligently working on our immigration paperwork, finishing up an assigned book on adoption and searching out adoption grants. We are one gigantic step closer to our little girl.

Pearl

Let me start this post by saying that I have been blessed with the world's greatest in-laws. I never really understood the in-law jokes you hear on tv and certainly have never joined in when friends speak of horror stories involving their spouse's parents. I am blessed. Not only was I welcomed into a family made up mostly of men (crazy red-heads to be exact) but my mother-in-law has welcomed me as her daughter. I do think she may have been a bit desperate for another female to keep her company.

Well, when Jon and I announced to our parents that we were adopting we knew they would be supportive but were surprised when Jon's mom, Laura, offered up a very sweet gift. Laura is a teacher and an author who loves the Lord. She recently published a book and has generously decided to give the entire proceeds to our adoption. There really are no words.

Here is a short description of the book Laura began to write years ago before Jon and I ever announced our plans.

This is a book about adoption...

and hope.

It's entitled Pearl.

The loss of a son...the memory of a daughter. A search for peace that spans two continents. Mei, a Chinese mother, loses her son in a tragic earthquake, awakening the memory of the daughter she relinquished to adoption years before. China’s One Child Policy robbed her of the infant she called Pearl, and Mei is haunted by loss. The couple learns to survive, finally emigrating to America where Mei sees little Chinese girls everywhere. Could that one be Pearl? Mei's search leads her to a peace she never knew existed. Will she find Pearl? And can she let her go?

Purchase a Copy of Pearl Here