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.
