We are leaving today!

Our days have been filled with cleaning, cooking, packing, walks, and family. I slept decent last night, although I woke up too many times. :) Oh well. Emerald didn't sleep too great, but what can I do? I'm going to stay positive.

One thing I did is clean out my car. It was filthy! It wasn't too long ago that I cleaned it either. Any other moms have this same problem? I will embarrass myself and show just how bad it was.

The mess....

Emerald got to play in the front!

Emerald's cardboard play house.

Our sweet deck furniture.

Zucchini bread...

Cleaning helper.

Packing!

PLEASE KEEP US IN YOUR PRAYERS! About to head to the airport!

What We Do

What does a family do the week before they embark on a 4-6 week journey that will change their lives? 

A family date at Starbucks.

 

(Where caramel and coffee and lots of whipped cream were involved.)

A trip to Lowes.
Early morning quiet times.

Saying goodbye to a big-city-dwelling friend. <3

Picking up a sturdy travel bag and helpful books from another friend. Mama of 10. 

Asking one of her girls to entertain Emerald in the car.

Making soup with the remaining food in their house and eating said soup for three days straight.

Finishing up the eggs, cheese, and lunch meat for lunch with an omelet.

Looking out the window while writing up a blog with no internet.

Oh and...

Packing, naps, meals, bank visiting, more packing…

2.5 days until takeoff!

A heartfelt thank you.

From the bottom of my heart,

T H A N K  Y O U.

To everyone who has supported us. For all the donations, great and small--we would not be leaving Saturday if it weren't for the sacrifice of others.

We are humbled.

Thank you for the kind words, prayers, letters, calls, texts, messages, toys, and faith that has kept us afloat.

Three stories of many:
Last weekend some friends of ours with sons dropped by because they (with their son's help) had picked out some toys they thought ours would like. They were great toys! Actually, they were items on my internal wish list. I was so touched by their kindness.

Another lady, having never met us wanted to give us the remaining amount we needed for our adoption. I was dumbfounded.

Another offered to supplement Matthias' salary so he could stay the whole time with Emerald and I. W o w.

God loves the orphan.

God loves His children.

Be encouraged.


PS- I am creating a wish list on the side bar. They are items we would love to have. If you happen to have any of them that you are not using and wish to donate, we would be so grateful!

The Countdown is ON

The weekend before we leave.......

My little ham.

Emerald and Daddy at Lowe's.

We are leaving for Ukraine in only 4 days! Craziness!! Say a prayer for us, don't want to forget anything.

The Eager, Yet Unlikely Adopters

I wanted to write this as a testimony to the Lord and as an encouragement to you.

Did you know that my dreams are coming true? I have dreamed and hoped to adopt for many, many years. I’ve had dreams of holding, nursing babies that didn’t look like me, that were scared, hurt, needy and showing them the nurturing heart of God. Ask Matthias…since before we got married, just to see a person with Down syndrome brings my heart great joy. It eludes to something God must have put in there—something dear to His own heart.

Yes, it is one of my wildest dreams to have the privilege of adopting a baby with Down syndrome. I am overwhelmed to think that the Lord sees fit to make my dreams come true now.  Perhaps because the Lord isn’t boxed in by age, income, status, home size, length of marriage, etc…

You see, almost two years ago, newly  married and even more newly pregnant with my daughter, I remember looking through the Reece’s Rainbow Down syndrome adoption photo listings for hours at a time, dreaming. Hurting for the babies and children with no families, some neglected simply because they were born with an extra chromosome. Trying to devise a way to make it happen, I looked at the requirements and talked to my husband. It wasn’t the right time. The Lord brought it up in our hearts again earlier this year and here we are, $25,000+ later, we are about to leave for Ukraine!

Married just two years in May, we just made the two years of marriage requirement. I’m sure there were some eyebrows raised over that.

Speaking of requirements, good thing my husband turned 25 this year, because we—well, he—just made the age requirement. (This is all for our specific program.)

Our daughter just turned 16 months. She’s a handful—spirited and busy. She is still nursing and isn’t potty trained yet. Even more eyebrows raised.

We humbly have left our family planning up to the Lord completely. We know first-hand the blessing of a child to a marriage and welcome any blessing the Lord has for us. Are your eyebrows raised yet?

We make a very modest income and live in a very modest apartment. We can’t justify getting into hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt for a house right now, so we choose to stay debt free in a rented apartment. In some countries, many families could live comfortably in our home! Why not another child?

We look at how a man appears—his income, values, beliefs, home size—but God sees right inside. God just needs faith, the mountain-moving, mustard-seed type faith. Do we have that? I don’t know. Maybe? All I know is God has taken this young, seemingly unlikely couple and shown what He can do. I’m humbled and blessed at His choice to bless us in this way. I pray He will give me the strength to be a wife and mother that would please Him and that I would never doubt Him or put Him in a box again.

God is faithful!

We are nearing the end of this adoption journey. I'm pretty sure the end is the most difficult though. Just like carrying a baby for nine months...the end, the labor and delivery is the most intense, yet much shorter.

Thank you friends and family for standing with us. Thank you for your kind, encouraging words and your donations. I am so humbled to say that through the sacrificial donations of people like you, we have raised nearly $20,000 in just a few months to bring home a very precious little boy. I've had to raise money before, but nothing like this.

When we first decided to adopt this little fellow, back in March, I asked the Lord, "would you make this easy for us?" and He really has. I have not had to beg anyone for money, people have just given. That amazes and blesses me. Thank you! Thank you, Lord!

We are still needing to raise around $2,500 before we leave in less than a month. I'm not worried, how could I be?

Thank you, Lord for hearing the desires of my heart so many years ago and making them come to pass, much earlier than I could have dreamed of.

updates--DOSSIER

We received our I-171H (permission to adopt from our government), and got together the rest of our documents for our dossier (the stack of papers you send to your adopting country). We have to take them to get apostil (state seal) Monday at the Secretary of State office then we are Fedexing it to our little guys country on Monday. This week and today especially has had many notary adventures, including hiring a notary to come to my apartment leasing office at 6:30pm. Oh and buying 24 donuts. You should ask me about it sometime :).

Great news though, we are sending our dossier Monday! That means we should hopefully be getting a date to travel in the next two weeks. That means we could be traveling to get our son in a bout a month! Wow! We are so excited.