Blessing

I come to you tonight with a thankful heart.  My mind is just spinning out of control thinking about everything that is going on.  This was a big couple of days for us.  We found out that a special little man was asked a life changing question and that he officially said YES.  I was told on the phone " I said yes MOMMA"   The fact that it was a YES made my heart skip a beat but hearing MOMMA made my heart about pop out of my chest.  During hosting I wasn't called mom I was Linda.  Until there was a change.  Then over night I was called Mom.  Hearing it caught me off guard.  I have 3 young children running around the house saying MOM all day long so it's normal. Although hearing it with that little accent always catches me off guard.  Our second big news is that we have gotten approval from USCIS.  This is the paper we have been waiting on for 73 days.  This is the last paper to send then everything goes to  the orphan court!  This is huge!  We are so grateful.  

The other day the kids and I were able to travel with Ryan.  He had an install at a customers site.  It just happened to be close to fellow hosting families.  So while Ryan went and worked I got the privilege of sitting at a park on a beautiful day talking to 2 fellow host moms.  It was wonderful.  We didn't now each other 4 months ago!  Now we have all gone through something life changing and we will be forever connected.  I do have to say that even our children were connected.  I heard 2 of them talking about hosting.  Later that day we were able to have a wonderful meal and were joined by yet another host mom. We had an enjoyable time sitting around the table sharing our funny moments of hosting.  I could have stayed all night talking, laughing, and crying.  We left way too late and headed out for a 6 hour drive home.  At midnight I took over driving while Ryan got some sleep.  I started out with some car karaoke and then I went to praying.  I was overcome with thankfulness for everything God has done.  Thinking about being called to host  and then to adopt just amazes me.  Why us?  We are not perfect parents!  We are not rich!  We are not knowledgeable in all the adoption mumbo jumbo!    I do not know why God called us to host and to adopt but I am so thankful he did.  My life has been forever changed.  My heart will never be the same.  

We are almost at the 1 year mark.  About a year ago we were sinning up for hosting.  Oh how our lives have changed in a year. I know that I have never cried this much in my entire life.  I have seen God provide in  every way.  I wish I could say oh I handled every obstacle that came my way with grace.  Umm NO...  We are real and we fail in so many ways.  About a year ago we shared with our family, church, and friends that we were hosting. Some thought we were completely CRAZY!  It sounded crazy.  We are going to be bringing home a child who speaks very little Engish and give him a family for Christmas!  Oh we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.  We thought we were going to be blessing him. We didn't think we were going to be  blessed by him.    When we signed up to host we knew it was going to be financially tight but we knew that we were suppose to do it.  It took 5 days!  5 days until we were able to pay all of the fees for hosting.  When we pursued adoption we knew once again that God was directing the way.  We knew that he was going to provide and he has.  Every time there is a payment needing to be made there is always enough.  There is so many instances where we have seen God provide.  When we were doing our auction we were down to the last few hours. Ryan and I were kind of freaking out.  We had set the auction to cover our apartment rental estimated at $2000.  We were at $700 then people started bidding and we were once again blown away when we ended $1563.  Then people paid even more than what they had bid.  WHAT!  Once everything comes in we should end at $2527.  That is crazy!   God is showing us to trust him completely and not just financially.   Our family is getting ready to change.  Yes we will try to guide and direct this change but honestly we are completely trusting God.  My faith has a whole new meaning.  I know it's going to be a transition for our family but I do have this amazing peace in my soul that is telling me God has this.  At times I need to remind my brain to stop trying to figure things out.  

The future:  We don't know!  

From what we have read from other families who have gone before us.   We could be about 6 - 8 weeks away from travel.  After a few more steps we will get our travel dates.  Usually they give you a 2 week notice before you are to be in their country.  Could the government shutdown affect us.  YES  Could the holiday season affect us YES.  SO we really have no idea :(     I'm a planner people!   

What I do know is that we are not ready financially.  We are currently trying to raise the roughly $5500 that we still need to cover our first trip.  Thankfully we have 3 plane tickets already funded.  We are still selling puzzle pieces.   We currently still have 117 pieces left to add to our puzzle.  If we are able to add all of the pieces to our puzzle the total still needed will be down to $2600 and all of our plane tickets will be covered!  We have a couple of fundraisers coming up but I know God will provide on his time. A garage sale is planned for next week.  We will be selling tickets for a chance to win an I Pad Mini! Also our adoption support group is helping us with many different fundraisers as well.  We are so grateful for all of the support from everyone!  

People are always asking us how can we help.  It is amazing and we are so thankful.  We believe in the power of prayer and so we are asking that you join us in praying for our adoption. Here are some specific things:

1. We are waiting for our USCIS to come in the mail.  I pray it is in the mail tomorrow.  

2. That our paperwork gets processed quickly in his country.  

3. Please pray that we will be able to travel with some other families.  

4. Pray for this child who is taking a huge leap of faith. He is saying yes to an adoption that is going to move him half way around the world. 

5. Pray that we will have the funds available when we get our travel dates.  

6. Pray for our kids this is a huge transition that they are getting ready to go through.  

7. Please pray for Ryan and I and our marriage.  

8. Please pray that God is able to use us to GLORIFY Him!  

Thank you so much for all of your support.  We are blessed to have you in our lives.