Formal Application

APPROVED! WooooHoooo...next...an all day Saturday training at the end of February & we can start our homestudy now! Every step is exciting!

What's happening now?

We submitted our formal application on Tues the 26th...so now we wait for it to get approved. Brett remembered today that he forgot to delete the "xxx" where he was suppose to put in the bedroom sizes...so it may get sent back to us to complete! Tonight a friend of mine is doing Mary Kay facials at our church & is donating all the donations and profits to our adoption. It was so nice of her to volunteer to do that!!!

Questions....

Feel free to ask us questions if you like. We may or may not answer them...pending a number of things...if we feel comfortable, if we know the answer etc. Please know that I am not doing this because I feel I must or that I have to explain myself...but b/c I want to!

One question I'm sure some are thinking..."Really? You guys are adopting...but you have two little ones and you guys can have children right...so why adoption?"

Yes we can have children! Yes we have two little ones...Z is 17 months, E is 3, and K is 14. Although our children will not be this young when we adopt. Adoption takes time and our children will go through the process with us. Brett and I did a mission trip to Kenya (although we are adopting from Ethiopia) in 2005 and God started working on my heart then. I fell in love with Africa then and still love it today. Its been a journey already in our hearts. Now it becomes a journey to make it happen. God brought us here, he laid adoption upon our heart, and we believe He will bring us through. We know that anything is possible when God is on our side.
Adoption is a beautiful. There are so many children in the world that are without parents. And Brett & I & our family have so much to give...we have been so blessed that we want to share our blessings with the less fortunate...the fatherless.

James 1:27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and windows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

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This week...

1/19/10 Our first offical-manditory adoption meeting with Bethany. Brett got off work early so we could head to St. Louis. We got there in plenty of time. We enjoyed a little supper @ Panera, one of my favorite places to eat! (And thanks to Zoey...I love Cinnamon Crunch bagel w/ Raspberry Cream cheese...try it, it rocks!) The meeting room was full of people. We were glad b/c the last informational meeting we went to for DCFS...we were the only ones! They also had a panel of parents who have adopted through their agency. It was neat to hear all the different stories and types of adoptions. We won a drawing for a $50 gas card! God is good. Brett & I live on a semi-tight budget doing the Dave Ramsey thing...and since it was the end of the pay period...$50 extra dollars for gas...is very welcome! Thank you God!
1/20/10...I was making homemade Banana Bread with Eli when all the sudden it hit me! I should (for fun, I was seriously thinking $5!) raffle off this loaf of bread to get Eli involved in the adoption. Because one day when he is older I want him to know he was a part of it all...even at his young age. So I sent out messages on my phone, facebook & email. We got a few bids & before I knew it the bread was going for $50, $75, $80, $100 between two women from our church! I was baffled! And my heart was warmed by the love of these two ladies. They each agreed to buy a loaf of bread. My "for fun" idea raised $200 towards our adoption!
1/21/10...Work day for me! A client and I got to talking and he was asking me all sorts of questions about adoption. And I kept feeling God nudge me to share with my client all that God has done this far. So I shared with him what had happened over the past two days. At the end of his appointment he paid and gave an extra $30 telling me to put it towards our adoption. I ofcourse said, "please only if you want to. Don't feel like you must." And he urged me to take it saying that he thinks its a great thing.
1/22/10...Not all days can be great, right!? Satan tries to discourage me. Later that day our Bethany caseworker called (our first phone conversation) and after adoption chatter...I explained to her things I was struggling with...and asked her professional opinion. She explained that their will always be someone who doubts us, questions us and will refuse to journey with us. She encouraged us to fundraise now and get a wonderful group of people who love us...to help support us emotionally, financially and prayerfully. And I couldn't agree more! What a blessing to know God is taking us step by step and all we have to do is BE obedient!
1/24/10...Had a terrific worship @ church today. I can't explain how the Spirit filled me and we prayed for my Sister in Christ who is battling cancer. Cancer is evil. I guess this has little to do w/ our adoption journey except that she totally admires us for our decision to adopt and wants us to adopt one for her! ;)