Charity

Today I read something that aggravated me.  And whether my aggravation is founded or not; it was there just the same. So I decided now would be a good time to address this issue. It's called "good old-fashion giving -- aka. charity".

We are only weeks away from hearing when we will travel to go get out little girl. And if you have any idea about adoption at all, you would know that it's expensive. So how in the world did we fund an adoption without a loan?

Is it because we are rich and can afford it?

 

Is it because I am the world best business woman? (haha)

 

Is it because adoption has suddenly become inexpensive?

 

Let me shock y'all by saying "NO" to all of those. (I know, I know, y'all really thought I am a good business woman, didn't you?)

We are here because we reached out to other Christian family and friends for help. And luckily for us, we have some pretty AMAZING friends and family. This is not always the case, trust me. I have seen so many people refused help by their Christian friends and family because... "you shouldn't adopt if you don't have the money". 
(To this I want to say..."you shouldn't buy a house if you don't have the money". But I refrain. Oh, wait, did I just say that...apparently I forgot to refrain.)
Somewhere in our self-sufficient, self-absorbed Christian life we have forgotten the true meaning of giving.  We have forgotten the point of caring for others.  We have forgotten that it takes humility to even ask for help....no one wants to admit that  they can't do it on their own.  We have this idea that if we can go through life never asking anyone for anything, then we are somehow better, because we did it ourselves. We have forgotten that God asked us to care for others needs...

Philippians 2:4

"Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others."

 

2 Corinthians 9:7
"Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver."

 

(PS. He didn't say only give to those who did not ask for help. He didn't say only give when it looks like it was your idea and not theirs.)

 

Josh and I have been blessed beyond measure during this adoption.  I can't count how many times we have received a donation from someone who learned we were adopting and chose to help.  Did we ask for their help? Yes, we did.  Was it hard to ask?  Yes, it was. Were we blessed? Yes, we were.  Were they?  I sure hope so. Do they know just how much their contribution meant to us? I sure hope so....but if they are still wondering, all I can say is...

 

"We love each and every one of you from the bottom of our hearts. We are doing what we feel God asked us to do and we can do it because you cared enough to give. THANK YOU!"

 

Christians! Care! Care enough to help those who are in need!  Even if they asked.

 

 

 

 

Last Steps

Some days we feel like we are dragging our feet. . . or better yet, that "they" are dragging theirs.  And we wonder why.  Why on earth would you drag out an adoption for one whole year? Every step we take seems like such a small one. But apparently even small steps get you somewhere.  For here we are...one last step!

Hopefully sometime in the coming weeks we will be contacted by Olivia's country with our travel date.  We finished off all our immigration paperwork and received Olivia's visa approval.  I am not completely sure how many weeks it will take to get our travel date, but we can be sure it will be after the second of August.

Thanks to all of you who have listened to all our ups and downs; and to those of you who have helped us get this far.  We are almost there!

Room Done (check)

So I know you weren't holding your breath (because you would have expired long ago)but none-the-less, I did promise that once I "finished" fixing up Noel's room for the girl's that I would post pics.  And seeing as how I have very little other news, I decided that I would bore you with it today.  So here you go. . .

 

I learned while trying to get these pics that the window is a real pain. So much sun comes in that window, all the pics came out much too dark and had to be edited. They are also a bit fuzzy, since I could hardly see in there.  Anyhoo....that's it.  Exciting right? 

 

I searched and searched for an area rug, but apparently somewhere inside rugs they stash large amounts of gold.  So for now we went with the old throw rug.

 

I also had to repaint the walls from beige to...well...beige. Thanks to the local True Value paint guy telling me that he couldn't match paint from the paint on the top of the can. See that vinyl horse decal (that Noel loves and could not be removed)....yep, I painted around that. Not easy but possible.

 

Oh yes, and then there is the "wallpaper". Again I had no idea that wallpaper is also made of gold. Did you?  So we did the next most obvious thing....an atlas.  Oh, you wouldn't have made that your second choice?  Why not?  I had so much fun piecing 3 atlases and two travel maps on to these walls to make...wallpaper. Actually...all sarcasm aside, it was kind of fun.  I had no idea there was a Noel, Missouri. Or that Canada's map is actually much prettier than ours - thanks to all the blue lakes. Oh and I had to make sure there was a fully pieced Texas on the wall (not easy), since Josh is from Texas.

 

Noel is now back to the first bunk bed Josh and I ever bought.  I actually gave it to the church a few years ago....thank goodness our church is ok with stealing back a donation. Even better is that it was the same color as her twin bed so we snagged the roll under drawers.

 

And since you made it through that totally boring post, I will tell you that we did finally receive our approval papers back with Olivia's pictures.  Since then, we have filled out all the necessary I-800 (immigration) paperwork for Olivia and it is currently in Dallas waiting to be approved.  We are hoping that this last paperwork takes only a month.  This way, we will be prepared for Olivia's guardian to return from her vacation the first week of August and be on our way to Eastern Europe. 

!!!!!!!

Yeah, I really couldn't think of what to call my post today.  Just wanted y'all to know that I was excited. We recieved our first pictures of Olivia.  The other ones we have are from over a year ago.  Unfortunately I can not share them on here, but if you email me or comment on FB......     (evil grin)

Also our Poland contact said she would be mailing back our packet to apply for Olivia's Immigration paperwork.  So although this may not make us too much closer,  we are at least in a forward motion again ...instead of the never ending pause. 

In all my excitement to tell you that we had pictures, I forgot that I had no other interresting things to say.....hmmm.  Lucky you!

Another litte update

So I finally broke down and wrote to our agency partner in Olivia's country.  Our dossier had been in her country for 6 weeks and I was getting a little antsy.  Ok, a lot antsy.  Since they are in a very different timezone, I didn't expect such a quick answer, but Grace answered me the same day.  Now I will warn you that with all good news is a tiny bit of bad news.  I am learning this is what adoption is all about.

This was our update:

Good News
-our dossier was translated last week
-the Adoption Commission Center approved us as candidates for Olivia's adoption
-all of the paperwork is ready to be sent back for Olivia's I-800A (immigration paperwork) ....except one piece of paperwork

Not-So Good News
-we are missing Olivia's doctor clearance...actually we have it but it is not signed and sealed (another thing about adoptions- EVERYTHING must be signed and sealed)

Bad News
-Olivia's guardian will be unavailable from July 15 - Aug 2 (this means the earliest we can travel to see Olivia is August 2nd). Of course, I am the only one who sees this as bad news.  Apparently I am still the only impatient one in the process.  I know, I still haven't learned my lesson.

So that's the story folks.  My long lesson in patience.  Sometimes I wonder if they make adoption process so long to see if you are truly committed to sticking it out.  And I want to tell them...."I am may be impatient but I am not a quitter". (unless you are talking about housework...I quit in the middle of that all the time)

Ambiance

This is me....

 

 

Yep, I have been sitting here looking out at gray skies all day.  Now this happens very little in New Mexico; and when it does, we hope rain will follow.  And although we have had one or two drops fall, today has mostly just been gray --no rain.  Normally I actually like a day to sit curled up on the couch doing nothing --because the weather told me to.

 

 Today...not so much. 

 

Why? Today I am struggling to hope.  I am trying not to fall into the ambiance of the day. (Karen, the little black rain cloud.) I am letting circumstances and weather affect my attitude.  We are now going on 5 weeks with no word from Olivia's country about our paperwork. Nothing...nada...nyet. Now I know someday I will look back and think this process just flew by, but today is not that day. Have you ever tried to look at the bright side of things on a gloomy day?  It's hard!!!

But God is gracious....He makes sure we have His words to encourage us on days like these.

 

Psalm 39:7

And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.

 

Psalm 31:24

Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord.

 

Psalm 42:5

Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance.

 

I really like that last bit...."the help of His countenance".  He doesn't have days of gloominess.  We do.  And if we hope in Him, we are given His countenance.  Which I am absolutley positive looks nothing like mine at the moment.  Maybe something a little more like this.....

 

 

A Window

Russia.  I hear a lot about it these days. When I first found Reece's Rainbow, probably two thirds of the children listed were in an orphanage in Russia.  Some of them even had families committed to them through Reece's.  For some reason I was never comfortable with going to Russia (I believe it all boiled down to the number of trips they required).  But there was this one girl..... I rooted for her; because had she not been in Russia, I would have considered her in a heartbeat. 

She was called "Dayna" and every picture they had of her was like this one. Happy!  It was as if she never realized that the life she lived wasn't ideal. After stalking watching her profile for a while,  I saw she finally found her family. They committed to bringing her home and were working on their homestudy.

 

  And then the ban.....her family was never going to be allowed to go get her.  "Dayna" died recently in that orphanage, not ever knowing what it would be like to have a family love her. 

 

And there are hundreds more children who will probably never know what it is like to have a real family thanks to Russia's ban. This really frustrates me; but then I am reminded that God is still in control.

 

I hate using this phrase but it fits..."when God closes a door, He opens a window".  He really does.  Because since the Russia ban, over 175 children in China have been listed on Reece's Rainbow.  Some have already found their families.  God cares for every one of these little ones; and even when man feels he is in control...he's not. And somehow God will find a way to take care of all those little ones who can't be adopted. For now He's making sure that these little ones in China find homes.

Tallulah

 

Lydia Rose

 

Annie

 

Liam

 

Bobby

 

All these they need is someone to care enough to move mountains to come get them. And trust me, what you may think is impossible, isn't.

 

Matthew 17:20

And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

 

**Reece's Rainbow is an awareness and fundraising sight for children with special needs who are on adoption agencies waiting list.  They have permission to post photos of these kids (names are changed to protect children)