the ball is rolling!!!

i am so excited to update everyone on our adoption journey. this past week has been alot of fun and progress. monday was our first adoption prep class and we enjoyed it so much. we met in a couples home that has adopted through our agency. there were 2 other couples besides us. we played an ice breaker game and talked about the pros and cons of different aspects of adoption. then we went over all of the paperwork we will be filling out over the next couple of weeks. we left that meeting feeling excited and encouraged!
last nights meeting was called panel. there were 2 families there to share their adoption stories. we were also able to ask them any questions we wanted. that was very helpful and encouraging. we met a man that we really related to and it was encouraging to hear his story. we also made our appointment for our intake meeting. at this meeting we will go over what our goal is, what we are looking for and how the agency can help us do these things.
i feel like we are really starting to pick up speed and im no longer a hamster running in circles. i know we have a long road ahead of us. but we are excited about this new adventure we are on!
dont forget we are still doing 2 fundraisers. one is selling scentsy and the other is the family closet. both links are on my facebook page and on the side of my blog. we also are taking donations for our next big garage sale! our garage is getting very full! thank you to everyone for your prayers and support.

moving right along

with all of the craziness in the past week it was such a blessing to wrap up our sewsewsewyourboat fundraiser and do so well. we are so thankful to anna cross for helping us along. and we are very thankful to have 2 other ladies come along side us and want to help with fundraising! i will get those links up on my blog soon as well. we have also been collecting alot of garage sale items. when the weather warms up for good we will have another big garage sale/bake sale. im very excited to have all of these fundraisers coming together right now as we head into our home study. our adoption prep classes are scheduled for the 13th and 16th of this month. we cant wait to get the ball rolling!

home study

i am so excited to have something to update this week. wednesday afternoon i turned in our home study applications to the agency. i have been hanging onto them since august! i was shaking with nervousness. when the lady came out to take my 3 copies each with our family photo i was shaking. to my surpise she glanced through the application while i was standing there and asked me if we were wanting to take the adoption prep classes in january. of course!!! i even took all of the children in with me to drop the apps off. they were very well behaved. and the social worker that i talked to is the oldest of 13...7 being adopted. i think we are in good hands :) i couldnt wait to tell hubby that they didnt laugh me out of the office. so my nervous shaking turned into an excited shaking!

update friday

not much to update on our adoption process this week. i did join a facebook group with adoptive moms. what an amazing group of ladies. i am gleaning so much wisdom from their experiances. i am also enjoying reading all of their blogs and following their journeys. i am cohosting a gold party this month as well. i hope that will give us the little amount we have left to have our home study fully funded. and then i can turn those applications in this month and i will be right on schedule. thanks everyone for all your prayers and support!

gold party

today is adoption journey update. yesterday we had a gold party fundraiser. it went very well. the gold party is a really good way to make quick cash. and people are supporting you but going home with money. its a win-win. i had a few guests and also some items to sell. as a host i make 10 percent commision off of what the gold party purchases. and i had 1 party booked. so as co host i make 5 percent off of that party. so its the fundraiser that keeps on giving!! im very excited to see where it goes. and im convinced i will have another party in the near future. we are very close to having our home study fully funded and in the savings account. i cant wait to turn the applications in and get the ball rolling. and im right on the schedule i wrote down in my journal. God is so good :)

home study time...almost

it is adoption journey update time! it is nice to have something to update finally :) a few months ago i sat down and wrote out a list of goals that i had. it seems we do alot of talking about things we want to do or accomplish but we rarely follow through or we forget. i do not like being that kind of person. so i sat down and wrote out our goals and gave a timeline. of course i know God is the author and just because i write them down doesnt mean its in His timing, but it helps to direct my prayers and give me motivation. one of my goals was to have enough money raised to turn in our home study application by the end of the year. it seems to me that God is going to make this happen right at the time i prayed for. isnt that amazing! isnt that another WOW moment. with alot of hard work, fundraising and saving we are only a few hundred shy of meeting that goal. right now we have an ongoing fundraiser thanks to a friend of mine. her business link is on the side of my blog if you would like to check it out. her ministry is for orphans. and she raises money to help families fund their adoptions and to send money to orphanages to help children get adopted. and in a sense she has been so kind as to adopt our family and help us on our way. i also have a gold party scheduled for november 17th at 6 pm. i thought what a great way to raise money and nobody has to donate any money. they actually leave with money! and just in time for some holiday shopping. i think we may have finally sold our bed...for real this time. this will be a huge help! and of course there is my donation button on the side of my blog as well. im so glad my friend told me about doing that. its been a fundraiser all in itself. once our homestudy application is turned in and if we get aproved...thats when the ball gets rolling and we will be a very busy family! please keep us in your prayers!

Gods timing

i had some really encouraging words yesterday from a friend. in my flesh i can get very impatient and want things to go at my speed and my timing. in my brain my wheels are constantly spinning and brainstorming ways that i can move this adoption along faster.
yesterday a friend asked how things were going with the adoption and i told her how hard fundraising is and how slow its been. her words were very encouraging and eye opening. she said that by raising our own money for the adoption ( as opposed to taking a loan etc) we really are leaving the timing to God. its really keeping our focus on God and looking for Him in every step and process.
that got me thinking. instead of being discouraged and impatient i need to look at why is it taking so long. God has a reason. He has a perfect child for our family. and we have to wait for the right moment that God wants to bring that child to us. im sure as the process starts rolling we will be amazed at all the details God was working out in His timing. maybe our finances will be in better order, maybe our debt will be paid off or down. there are so many blessings in disguise that we need to focus on instead of complaining.
thank you to everyone that is being so supportive of us. your words of encouragement and your help and support are apreciated more than you willk ever know!

garage sale/bake sale

yesterdays garage sale/bake sale was alot of fun! we did ok. the goodies were a big hit. the girls were a big help at the bake sale. we did not think anyone would buy the cowboy pic but alot of people asked about it and when we finally sold it we all cheered. a big thank you to everyone that heped and baked. with each fundraiser we are that much closer to starting the adoption process!

ghana

i am looking for ways to get the kids involved in the adoption process. one way i have thought of is to actually study the country of ghana for school. we can study the history, culture, food, religoun, and geography. i also have a friend going on a mission trip to ghana very soon. maybe an interview would be a neat idea!
another thought i had would be for the kids to follow the adoption process with daddy and i. for them to learn what each step is about could get them excited and they could check things off that get accomplished. oh, i cant wait for the day we have a picture of our future child. that will really get this family excited! we need to start now as a family praying for our future child.
romans 8:15 "for you did not recieve the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you recieved the spirit of adoption by whom we cry out "abba father".
romans 8:23 " not only that but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves eagerly waiting for the adoption the redemption of the body".
romans 9:4 " who are isrealites to whom pertain the adoption the glory the covenants the giving of the law the service of God and the promises"
i couldnt help but have the word adoption jump out to me over and over as i read these passages the other day.

fundraisers

well we are coming up on our next fundraiser. this time we are moving the garage sale to a friends house on a busier street ;) we are also combining a bake sale with the garage sale. im hoping together these will raise more money. sunday the kids and i made lots of flyers to pass out in the neighborhood where we are having the garage sale. thursday we will head over to that neighborhood on put the flyers on doors. the kids are excited to do that!
a big huge thank you to my best friend for allowing us to store the stuff in her garage and have the sale at her house this saturday! this definately takes alot of teamwork.
maybe we can squeeze in a car wash before the weather gets too cool. i will blog about the fundraiser this weekend and update how it went!

adoption

adoption was always something i thought was "neat" or would be "cool" to do. as a child i thought i would have some kids and then adopt some kids. not really understanding the meaning behind adoption and how God was the inventor of adoption. how as believers we are adopted into Gods kingdom.
well, life got busy and the house started filling up with kids. in the back of my mind i always thought ill have kids as long as i can then maybe start adopting. i never thought i would have 9 biological kids! after having a very easy time with most of my pregnancies and deliveries i never really thought i would be "done". i thought well im just made for having babies and i will probably have 20. when we decided to let God have control of our family size i never imagined He would say we were done having them biologically. but when number 9 came along and my body just about quit on me we thought God must be closing that door. after several doctors told us i would probably die if i had anymore children we thought that was confirmation. there are days ( many) that i am full of regrets for not continuing to have children. but then there are days i look at my children and think about how much they need me here.
when hubby said that word adoption i was filled with so much hope. not only do we believe that all children are a blessing and deserve a loving home but we know that being parents is our calling. that our house is not "full". that we said we would let God control the size of our family that meant he knows no boundries and could use adoption to do that!
how many children are too many? i dont believe theres such a thing. and i am well aware that there are millions of orphans in the world and that we wont change that number by adopting 1, 2 , 3 or more children but we can change those children. we will show them what a loving home is, what family is, what unconditional love is, and who Christ is.
so how did this journey begin. well my heart was ready a year and half ago. but that was not the right timing. although hubby was very sure he wanted to pursue adoption he was not quite ready yet. when josiah turned one we started doing some research. over this last summer we have really researched. we have gotten in touch with a placing agency and a home study agency. we have also joined an orphan care ministry and soaked up as much wisdom from veteran adoptive parents as we can!
some days it seems we are going in slow motion but i know its Gods timing, not ours. i know that the process can snowball very quickly once it gets going and we want to make sure we are prepared when it does.
some things we have done....we have applied to a placing agency and have been aproved to adopt through their ghana program. some things we are doing....we are fundraising and taking donations. we are saving our money. we are really close to turning our home study application in. i look foward to blogging through the process. i hope through my blogging i can give a face to adoption and encourage other people in their journeys. i know God has put so many people in our life to encourage us. its amazing the poeple i have met on this journey...and we have only begun!
if you feel led to donate to our adoption you can go to the donate button on the side of my page. but most of all please join us in praying!!!! praying for the process to run smooth, praying for Gods perfect timing, and praying for the children waiting to be adopted.