News and Strangers

It feels like forever since I have posted. Trust me, it isn't for lack of adoption info...it has more to do with insane schedules and a nasty cold that has been visiting our house.....

 

Ok, NEWS!!! Today, I repeat, TODAY.....Bulgaria will be reviewing our case and, Lord Willing, tomorrow we will get news. Basically, this meeting is the final hurdle before Bulgaria recognizes Leanna as being ours. So, after this meeting, once they realize AGAIN how awesome we are, Bulgaria will send a document to our agency. Once this document is received, we will get to schedule our first visit to Bulgaria!! I get all the terminology confused....not sure if this is an "official referral", or an "official match" meeting.....you get to a point where you just nod and go with the flow.

 

This is HUGE though. We get this document, then we visit Leanna within 6 weeks!!!! THEN, the goal is to bring her home approx. 3 months after that!!!! It still feels far off, but at least there is an end in sight!

 

SOOO, another little tidbit of news, the same day we got this news, I walked out to the mail box and noticed that we had 2 letters from various grants we had applied for. One was from JSC (this one I was pretty sure we would get)....the other was from Show Hope. I opened JSC and was sooooo bummed to see we didn't get any financial aid. I almost didn't open Show Hope as I was even more certain we wouldn't get aid from them...but, I opened and BOOM! $4000 grant!! Ok, perspective here.....we got this grant letter with 15 minutes of me finding out we would be traveling....traveling costs a lot of money. How cool was Gods timing?!?!?!

 

I also want to add that we applied for 5 grants, and we got 4 of them. How amazing is that??????

 

Now, my ponderings. I have been soooooo blown away by the love and generosity of strangers. Let me explain....Sean and I have had to get some thick skin during this process. Our experience is that people either are completely passionate about adoption/our adoption....or they are completely not. There really isn't a middle. People that are passionate about adoption are always trying to find ways to love us and support us...through prayer, encouraging words, donations, hugs, facebook posts....etc. People that aren't passionate for adoption basically think we are nuts. We have too many kids. Leanna will be too much work for us. We shouldn't adopt if we don't have the money. Sean and I will never have the joy of an empty nest since we keep having children....etc.

 

The interesting thing is that it doesn't matter if we are talking about friends, church family or relatives......people are for it, or against it....so, you understand our "thick skin."

 

So, that brings me back to strangers. We have been shown so much love, kindness, and generosity from people that don't know us. They know our story. They are passionate about adoption, and they want to see Leanna come home. I have learned so much from these people. I have had strangers donate to our online stores/auctions. Not only are there donations, but many send us encouraging letters.....I have even had people include little extras for Leanna....hair clips etc. One sweet gal send her donation, and some lovely bath salts for me....saying that she was sure I could use them. lol. She was right, and I was so grateful for her thoughtfulness. I have decided that I am going to be one of those strangers. A person that just loves others. A person that encourages people, and loves people....no matter what. I am so thankful for my friends, the strangers.

Busy Busy Busy.

I know I am waaaaayyyyyy past due for a post. Trust me when I say that it has been so crazy here. Busy Busy Busy!! However, I am praising God for the chaos as I have been Blessed with several opportunities that are helping us raise money for our little Leannas adoption!!!!

 

This past weekend was Womens retreat. I was asked if I would like to do a Bingo game and a silent auction there for our little lady. The theme of retreat was "Hope" and the amazing speaker was going to be speaking on her Ethiopian adoptions. Of course, I totally jumped on board. Long story short, this led to several amazing and GENEROUS donations....most of them coming from people who don't know us, nor do they know Leanna. These people just heard our story and were happy to help us out. How cool was that???? Our auction was amazing and Bingo was a blast. People were so kind, loving and willing to do what they could to Bless our family.....whether it be financially or prayerfully.

 

Now I am moving on to our next 2 events, one is a table at our Church Holiday Bazar (again, donations have been amazing and generous, my table will rock!). Then, after the bazar is the dinner/dance that we are putting together along with some sweet friends adopting from the Congo. That event is going to be AMAZING!!!!!

Feel free to pray for my sanity and for time management. These opportunities are Blessings, but I am always spread super thin. To say I get overwhelmed would be a huge understatement. Praise God for the friends and family that surrounds us with prayer and gives us strength and encouragement when we need it.

 

 

In regards to the adoption, we have officially submitted all of our documents for our dossier. This is HUGE. We had a doozy of a time getting 2 final documents. Our caseworker had sent everything else so that momentum didn't come to a complete hault....but, those documents were a huge stressor on us, and I am so glad we are done with that part. So, the next step is waiting for our first travel dates!!!! I cannot wait to see our sweet daughter, but I am already dreading having to leave her there. Guess I will cross that depressing bridge when I get to it.

 

 

Prayer- Please pray for strength and wisdom. Pray that our hard work will be Blessed by good attendance at our upcoming events. Pray for Leanna.....her health, her heart and her future transitions. Pray that God will use our experience to open up others minds and hearts to adoption.

 

 I was chatting with my Mom last night about that last one. I constantly have to remind myself that a lot of people just don't understand what we are doing. We hear, Why would you adopt if you dont have the money? Why would you go to another Country when there are children in the US? Why do you want ANOTHER child? Why would you ever take on a special needs child? These questions used to break my heart and offend me. But now, I welcome these questions. I welcome these opportunities to speak about our hearts and our calling to love and defend the fatherless. These beautiful children of God.