God is So Good!

Fiddling for the Fatherless was a huge success on many different levels!  First of all Brett did an amazing job, just as we knew he would!  That kid is so special to us!  I was grinning from ear to ear the whole time, just watching him.  So thankful that he and Ryleigh are such good friends after all these years!  Second, we raised $2463.65!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  God is so good!  We have no idea who gave what, but we do know the crowd was generous and we are so incredibly thankful.  We are so blessed!  Third, our church family is such a blessing.  They share there time, talents, and love so freely and so abundantly.  Our praise band was awesome last night!  Kelly leads Lifepoint in such an unselfish, kind, Godly way.  The ministries that are so alive and making an eternal impact at our church are great. It's not about "what can the church do for me", it's about what can the church do for God, just as it should be!  I'm blown away!  Fourth, we were so blessed by each and every person that came last night.  It's so humbling to think so many people wanted to come out and show their support.  I can't begin to thank everyone enough!  Fifth, and maybe most important, a mom asked us about adoption and wanted more information on the process!  Praise the Lord for changed hearts and for those who answer His call!

 There are a few families from our FB DTC group that are in China right now and one that is adopting a little girl from the Changzhou SWI where Ethan is.  They are going to visit the orphanage next Thursday and try to give Ethan a hug and kiss and the message that his mommy and daddy are coming soon.  We are not going to get our hopes up about getting pictures of him, since that seems to be such an ordeal, but just knowing that this amazing famiily is going to possibly see him and give him a little love makes my heart want to burst.  It's so exciting to follow the blogs of families who are traveling, especially this one that is going exactly where we are going!  We should be able to get a lot of good advice from them!  If you are interested their blog is http://www.jeanine-kaminski.blogspot.com/. 

We are getting ready for the Adoption Ministry garage sale next weekend.  It's going to be fun to spend all that time with our fellow Lifepoint families who are adopting, make some money, and get all the stuff out of our garage.  We have done a clean sweep of our house and the pile is quite large!  Praying for another successful fundraiser.

We have put a lot of time into filling out grant applications.  We are applying for ones that we know people have gotten so we know they are for real.  It's very tedious and time consuming, but if we could get even one, it will be worth it.  We will most likely apply for a loan through the ABBA fund, too, because they give no interest loans to adopting families. 

Please continue to pray for our family and our fundraising efforts, our travels, and Ethan's transition into our family.  Pray for the millions of other orphans around the world and for the families who are trying to adopt.