Second Care Package

Well, in honor of our little Sophia's 2nd birthday approaching we sent a care package to her orphanage. This time around we are sending 10 warm pajamas and 10 soft musical toys for the children in the orphanage. So thank you to my friend who gave money to go towards the orphanage donation! As I mentioned in an earlier post we use Ann at Red Thread China to send our care packages and she is so incredibly sweet...I recommend her to anyone who is looking to send a care package to their son or daughter. I am hoping that Ann can get updated pictures of our sweet Sophia and updated measurements to see if she has grown much. I will post the pictures if I receive any! Well, we are in day 47 of waiting for our I800A approval...sheesh...this is ridiculously long to wait for a simple approval. But, I guess that's adoption for you...Our hope is that we will have approval by the end of next week, BUT we will see. As soon as I get that paper y'all will hear a joyful holla coming from Nebraska! Just know that's me and it's a GOOD day here! I hope everyone has an amazing Memorial Day weekend. Hug your kiddos and your spouse and thank the Lord for BRAVE heroes who currently are serving our country and for all those who died in defense of this great country.

Fingerprints for I800A approval...DONE!

Finally! Done with our next step in the process! We went in yesterday, only 2 days early from our appt date, and they were able to get us in. Now we wait until the FBI clears us. They will contact our USCIS officer and give them the word that we aren't criminals and have a clean background. After that, as long as our paperwork we sent doesn't need any additional information added to it, we will have our approval. As soon as we have this approval in hand we can get it notarized/certified/authenticated and off our documents will go to China. This will be such a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. I have been paper chasing for many months now and I am ready to hand the baton off. Hoping and praying for a speedy approval!

Ipad Giveaway

Hey! If you are looking to help a family bring home their little one...than look no further...check out this blog: www.k6comehome.blogspot.com. I believe they pick a winner tomorrow...so don't delay. You will help an amazing family bring their baby home AND you just might win an Ipad!

A Jar of Flour and a Jug of Oil

When we first started talking adoption over 7 years ago, one of our main concerns was "how in the world were we going to afford it?" I don't know about you, but we sure don't have $25,000 sitting around with no where to go. Nope. We have all the same bills everyone else does, minus some, because I am a huge Dave Ramsey nut, so we don't do credit card stuff...but that's another post. My point is that we didn't have the money saved to even begin this process. We had some, but certainly no where near the amount we need. But, the funny thing is we have never been without the money to pay for this adoption. Many times we prayed and asked the Lord to help us with an upcoming adoption fee and guess what....HE showed up! I have noticed that we always seem to have "just enough". Never do we have it all or even most of it all. I know why, of course, it is so we continue to get on our knees, everyday and ask. To rely on Him and not on us or any other human in this world. One thing is for sure...people will fail you, jobs will fail you, situations will fail you, God won't. And what He calls us to do, boy will He ever get us through it. I often tell George that I am so in awe of how God is supplying all we need for this adoption. We started out this adoption journey with $5000 saved in an adoption fund. Anyone who has adopted knows this is a tiny fraction of what an adoption can cost. But, let me tell you...5 months into our adoption with all the thousands we have spent up to this point and guess how much we still have in our adoption savings account...$5000! That's where the title of my blog "A Jar of Flour and a Jug of Oil" comes into play here. If you are not familiar with this Scripture passage, let me share, because it is a fabulous story and it resembles our lives so much. There was a prophet Elijah, whom God sent to confront Baalism and to show the nation of Israel that the Lord was God and there was no other. God sent Elijah to a place called Zarephath where there was a drought and where there lived a widow with her son. God told Elijah that the widow would take care of him by feeding him. When Elijah arrived in Zarephath he asked the widow to bring him some water and also to bring him a piece of bread. She tells him "As surely as the Lord your God lives, I don't have any bread-only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it-and die." But Elijah tells her to not be afraid and to go home, make a small cake of bread for him and then make something for her and her son. He continues on and says "For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the land." She listened to Elijah and did as he said and guess what...the Lord fulfilled His promise to her and her son. The jar never ran out and the jug never ran dry! I have no idea what this looked like, but I do know that it is true. I see it in our own lives with this adoption. As I mentioned before, when we started this I stressed so much over the money that I made myself sick. I would worry in bed at night and I would struggle with balancing if we were showing faith by deciding to adopt without all the money saved or if we were being seriously irresponsible. As I said before, I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan and my motto when I see something I really do like, but don't have the money for is "Yes that's a nice (fill in the blank) but better his/her payment than mine!" So, I struggled a lot and for a long time with this decision. However, I realize that if I never get out of my comfortable life and take a chance, how can I ever expect God to show up. If I had all the money saved, well then how could I ever give Him the full honor He deserves for this. I couldn't. So, I will leave you with a prayer I have prayed for many years and I feel is being answered right now in our lives, which is found in Proverbs 30:7-9 "Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty not riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise I may have too much and disown you, and say, "Who is the Lord?' Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor the name of my God.

Some of my favorite quotes

Hebrews 13:2
"Do not forget to entertain strangers, for so by doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
"No man is so poor as to have nothing worth giving. Give what you have. To someone it may be better than you dare to think."

Mother Theresa
"If you can't feed one hundred people than feed just one."

Proverbs 24:12
"Once our eyes are open we can not pretend we do not know what to do. God who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act."