We did it, we finished the "paper-chase" our dossier is in Ethiopia! We are so excited to finally wait! I never thought we'd get to
this step in this process. It definitely hasn't been easy and I know it
will continue being a challenge. However, I am not worried because God
is in control! A few weeks ago, Matt and I owed $3,700 to our agency.
With that said, we knew we had to HAVE FAITH. I currently have the
summer off while Matt works. It's been rough! We decided to try taking
out another small loan. Since Matt and I already have a loan, we
could only get an extra $1,600-1,800 more. Then, we realized Matt's
tuition is due in August and we will have to pay about $600-800 for the
first payment. That means we will only have $1,000 left for the adoption
fees! We still owed $2,700!!!! Matt and I continued to HAVE FAITH and
prayed every night. Finally, we emailed our pastor and associate pastor
and asked them if we could have a fundraiser at our church. Our pastors
were thrilled to support us! They were excited to help us do a
fundraiser. So, they told us that we would do the "cook-out" in 2 weeks
and that all we needed to do is bring a few drinks and ice. THAT WAS IT!
I felt a little helpless, but extremely grateful!
Our
hotdog and hamburger fundraiser was super simple. It was probably the
easiest fundraiser we have had so far. Moe's even donated some Moo Moos,
chips, and salsa! We
have never felt so much support and love like we did that day. Matt and I
are so blessed to have such an amazing church family. So many people
went above and beyond to support us. God really laid it on so many
people's hearts to donate.Guess how much we raised....... around $2,700!
We raised just enough money!!! Matt and I had FAITH, and God
provided!!!!
Our Beautiful Family
"Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans..." Isaiah 1:17a
Monday, July 30, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Pleasing God, not people.......
I felt I needed to blog about a few things that have been weighing on my heart lately.......
Recently, someone told us that they didn't agree with what we were doing and they couldn't "support" us. They didn't understand why we aren't adopting from the United States and they said "charity starts at home". Well, my home is in Heaven. This place is my temporary home. God wants us to care for orphans. He did not say, "only orphans that live near you." It really shocked me because this person is a christian. We are changing an orphan's life. It doesn't matter where she was born. My husband told the couple that God led us to adopt from Ethiopia and that this is His will. They then told him that God doesn't lead you to do things. You choose to do things and if you pray about it, He will make it happen. At this point, I was allowing someone to upset me. This whole journey has been God's plan from the beginning. Yes, God does lead you! God puts things in your heart and as a christian you have the choice to do His will. Unfortunately, by following God and doing His will people aren't always going to agree with what we do. Matt and I do not live in a big house, drive fancy cars, have a lot of money, and we do not have a very supportive family at times. However, we HAVE FAITH. We have two beautiful children, jobs that pay our bills, cars that get us to our destinations, and enough money to survive, and a wonderful supportive church family! Most importantly we have God in our lives. We live for God! It wasn't that long ago that Matt and I just went about living our daily lives without making God the center of it. We finally realized that you can't get the most out of your life without making God our #1 priority! With that said, I have told myself not to worry. God is in control of my life. Matt and I are standing behind our decision to be obedient to God's calling for our family. He wants us to adopt from Ethiopia and we are doing His will. It may not seem practical to many people in our lives, but we are not living for them. We are living for God. One day, we will have our little girl at home with us and she will have a great, Christ-centered life! We will teach her about God, love her, clothe her, make her laugh, and do all the things that one of God's precious children deserves. Most important.....we will change a little girl's life forever!
Recently, someone told us that they didn't agree with what we were doing and they couldn't "support" us. They didn't understand why we aren't adopting from the United States and they said "charity starts at home". Well, my home is in Heaven. This place is my temporary home. God wants us to care for orphans. He did not say, "only orphans that live near you." It really shocked me because this person is a christian. We are changing an orphan's life. It doesn't matter where she was born. My husband told the couple that God led us to adopt from Ethiopia and that this is His will. They then told him that God doesn't lead you to do things. You choose to do things and if you pray about it, He will make it happen. At this point, I was allowing someone to upset me. This whole journey has been God's plan from the beginning. Yes, God does lead you! God puts things in your heart and as a christian you have the choice to do His will. Unfortunately, by following God and doing His will people aren't always going to agree with what we do. Matt and I do not live in a big house, drive fancy cars, have a lot of money, and we do not have a very supportive family at times. However, we HAVE FAITH. We have two beautiful children, jobs that pay our bills, cars that get us to our destinations, and enough money to survive, and a wonderful supportive church family! Most importantly we have God in our lives. We live for God! It wasn't that long ago that Matt and I just went about living our daily lives without making God the center of it. We finally realized that you can't get the most out of your life without making God our #1 priority! With that said, I have told myself not to worry. God is in control of my life. Matt and I are standing behind our decision to be obedient to God's calling for our family. He wants us to adopt from Ethiopia and we are doing His will. It may not seem practical to many people in our lives, but we are not living for them. We are living for God. One day, we will have our little girl at home with us and she will have a great, Christ-centered life! We will teach her about God, love her, clothe her, make her laugh, and do all the things that one of God's precious children deserves. Most important.....we will change a little girl's life forever!
Monday, July 2, 2012
God's Blessings Along the Way
Well, it's been a very long time since Bridgette has posted anything. So, I figured I would post an update. A lot has happened since we switched agencies.We have done a few fundraisers since we switched. Let me tell you about the fundraisers. Since Bridgette is a teacher, we decided to do another fundraiser at the primary school where her mom is a teacher. I was not as excited as Bridgette was because I knew who would be doing the fundraiser....ME. It was as awkward as I imagined it would be. I did a BBQ luncheon at the primary school with ONLY woman. I was the only man sitting in the teacher's lounge as the teachers came in and shared their morning stories. I felt a little out of place at times. However, it did get easier. I even came back the next day to do another fundraiser. It was just as awkward the second time. If you know me, you know that I am not a very social person. Throwing this fundraiser was really big for me and I know that God was by my side the entire time. I am very grateful for the teachers who donated and tried to make me feel as comfortable as possible. Bridgette, however, thoroughly enjoyed that I felt uncomfortable throwing this fundraiser alone. We raised about $450 at the primary school.
Our 2nd and 3rd fundraiser- We had a wonderful couple help plan our 'Bounce n BBQ' fundraiser. We passed out flyers everywhere we could think of: 3 different schools, VBS at a church, and I even passed them out to every car in the Food City parking lot( that was fun :/ ) We had four inflatables, BBQ, hotdogs, etc. We were very grateful for everyone who came out and supported our adoption. I even returned the next day and did a fundraiser lunch at the church. We raised about $1,800 altogether. We were a little disappointed with the turn out considering how much we advertised it to our community. Later that night we held a "pity party" at our house that nobody came to either. :) We were hoping for more people and donations, but we then realized that this is all God's plan and His plan is perfect.
Last week, we sold a boat that was donated to us. Even though the boat's motor was busted, we still sold it for $1,200. God is good!
During this time we have also made great progress with our dossier. We had our biometrics appointment and got our 171H approval letter, had our papers county and state sealed, and we are currently waiting on two grant decisions. We are very close to the end of this process. Today, we are sending our dossier to our agency. Even though we do not have all the funds, we are still sending our papers so they can be processed while we raise the remainder of the money. As humans, it's very easy to stress and worry. Bridgette and I both catch ourselves worrying about the money at times. We still need $3,700 for our dossier. With Bridgette not working during the summer it has been a challenge to keep up with the bills and get the money for the adoption at the same time. We know that God will provide every last cent in some form or another and that we need to have more faith and just trust in Him. We will, of course, still need to raise money as we get closer to traveling to Ethiopia. It is a long and tiresome journey, but we believe nothing worthwhile is gained without struggle.
What can you do?....... PRAY.
1. Pray that we receive a grant
2. Pray that our next fundraiser is a success
3.Pray that we will have faith to finish the race.
Our 2nd and 3rd fundraiser- We had a wonderful couple help plan our 'Bounce n BBQ' fundraiser. We passed out flyers everywhere we could think of: 3 different schools, VBS at a church, and I even passed them out to every car in the Food City parking lot( that was fun :/ ) We had four inflatables, BBQ, hotdogs, etc. We were very grateful for everyone who came out and supported our adoption. I even returned the next day and did a fundraiser lunch at the church. We raised about $1,800 altogether. We were a little disappointed with the turn out considering how much we advertised it to our community. Later that night we held a "pity party" at our house that nobody came to either. :) We were hoping for more people and donations, but we then realized that this is all God's plan and His plan is perfect.
Last week, we sold a boat that was donated to us. Even though the boat's motor was busted, we still sold it for $1,200. God is good!
During this time we have also made great progress with our dossier. We had our biometrics appointment and got our 171H approval letter, had our papers county and state sealed, and we are currently waiting on two grant decisions. We are very close to the end of this process. Today, we are sending our dossier to our agency. Even though we do not have all the funds, we are still sending our papers so they can be processed while we raise the remainder of the money. As humans, it's very easy to stress and worry. Bridgette and I both catch ourselves worrying about the money at times. We still need $3,700 for our dossier. With Bridgette not working during the summer it has been a challenge to keep up with the bills and get the money for the adoption at the same time. We know that God will provide every last cent in some form or another and that we need to have more faith and just trust in Him. We will, of course, still need to raise money as we get closer to traveling to Ethiopia. It is a long and tiresome journey, but we believe nothing worthwhile is gained without struggle.
What can you do?....... PRAY.
1. Pray that we receive a grant
2. Pray that our next fundraiser is a success
3.Pray that we will have faith to finish the race.
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